Course of Love
by weirdbard
Summary: Ruby has been fascinated by Weiss for a while but slowly the fascination has given way to love. She isn't sure if Weiss feels the same but nothing bad could happen by confessing her love to Weiss, could it? Ruby is going to learn that the course of love rarely runs smoothly and they maybe more than a few eddies and whirlpools in the way.
1. Chapter 1

Course of Love

by

Weirdbard.

Love is like a river. It can start out small but quickly builds. Unfortunately the course of love does not always run smooth. It may take many twists and turns till it finds its way to the end. And rapids and whirlpools may be more common than expected.

Ruby peeked over the side of her suspended bed as Weiss arose from the bed underneath her and started stretching, preparing to face the start of a new day. Since it was Sunday and there were no classes she knew that Weiss probably thought her still asleep so she took this opportunity to do her most favorite thing in the world. Weiss watching.

Ruby's heart beat loudly in her chest as she watched Weiss stretch upwards before bending over to touch her toes. The night gown Weiss wore inching upwards as she fully bent over. The sheer material of it giving a good glimpse of the young woman's tight rear end. Some would say it was so tight cause of the stick Weiss kept shoved up there, but not Ruby. She had fallen head over heels in love with the pale woman and that even included her icy and abrupt personality. Ruby tried to decide just when she had started falling for the young heiress and almost giggled when she realized it was their very first meeting. When Ruby had fallen over the young woman's luggage and had first looked up as Weiss had begun scolding her. It really was a case of 'love at first sight' for Ruby.

Ruby with a silent sigh rolled over on her back and stared at the sheet that she had draped over her bed forming a makeshift canopy. _"but was it love at first sight for Weiss as well?"_ Ruby worried to herself. Ruby was certain she knew her feelings. She was in love with her best friend Weiss but Ruby didn't know if Weiss felt that way at all. Even if Weiss considered Ruby her best friend or even a friend at all. With Weiss it was so hard to tell. She was cold and abrasive to almost everyone. Everyone except her sister Winter. Whom she treated respectfully but not what Ruby would call lovingly.

Did Weiss even 'swing' that way? Did she find girls sexually appealing? Would she find Ruby appealing? Ruby swallowed in nervousness. She didn't know how much longer she could go on without telling Weiss how she really felt.

Looking over at her sister's bunk she was surprised to see it empty. Looking down she noticed Blake was not in her bed either. Apparently the two had something planned for this morning and had already left, which left Ruby alone… With Weiss. The longing, the love, the desire finally grew stronger than Ruby could stand.

Ruby silently dropped down from her bed and landed behind Weiss who was just finishing her morning exercises. As Weiss turned around hot and sweaty from her brief work out, her night gown clung to her body and to Ruby there was no lovelier sight in the world. Almost against her will Ruby's eyes tracked to where the gown was sticking to Weiss's chest outlining her small but perfect breasts. She had to tell Weiss how she felt right this moment before she lost her nerve again.

"Ruby! You startled me. What are you doing there and staring at me like that?" Weiss demanded putting her hands on her hips.

"I need to tell you something Weiss but I'm not sure how to go about it. I'm afraid you'll hate me." Ruby began nervously as she dragged her eyes to stare into Weiss's impossibly perfect pale blue ones.

"What of mine did you break?" Weiss demanded.

"It's nothing like that." Ruby nervously chuckled. "Nothing got broken I promise. I just really like you Weiss."

"Well… I'm very fond of you as well."

"Are we friends?" Ruby asked hesitantly.

"Of course we're friends. We're teammates." Weiss said unsure where Ruby was going with this.

Ruby took a deep breath and a visibly steeled herself for what she had to say. "I think of you more than just a friend Weiss." Ruby said her voice shaking with her worries.

"What do you mean you think of me as more than a friend. You mean like teammates or more like family?" Weiss asked suspiciously.

"Nooo…" Ruby drew out. "I… I… I think I'm in love with you Weiss!" She said and then hugged the young woman and brought her lips in contact with hers. Ruby knew the instant she had Weiss in her arms that her dreams were destined to fail as she could feel the young woman become stiff and unyielding in her arms. Weiss pulled Ruby's arms away from her and pushed her back to hold her at arm's length. "Ruby Rose. Are you saying that you desire me?" Weiss asked in a voice that Ruby could almost swear she could see frost coming out with the words.

Ruby hung her head down and stared at the floor. "Yes?" She asked hesitantly.

"Well Ruby, I'm not one of those kind of girls." Weiss stated in an icy voice. "I would never have expected you to be one of those type either. I mean you looked so nice and… Well clean. Not a dirty type of girl that lusts after other girls."

Ruby could feel her heart breaking in two.

"Have you been watching me when I get dressed and undressed?" Weiss's voice began to take on volume and anger.

"No! I swear I haven't. Can we just forget I said anything and go back to the way things were?" Ruby asked in desperation.

"How can I? knowing you are laying in the bed above me thinking Dust knows what? I'm not sure I feel safe with you in the same room anymore. You disgust me."

"Oh come on Weiss. I just told you that I have crush on you. I'm not some kind of molester just waiting for you to drop your guard or something. You said we were friends. Teammates."

"Well I'm not sure if I can remain friends or even teammates with someone who is…" Weiss turned to walk out of the door but was stopped as Ruby grabbed her arm in desperation. She looked at Ruby's hand pointedly and Ruby quickly let go of her but pleaded never the less. "Don't quit the team Weiss! Please! I'll… I'll… move out! Will that make you feel more safe or comfortable? I'll move out and outside of missions or school we won't have to come in contact with each other!"

Weiss seemed to think it over. "Where would you move to?"

"There is a room across the hall from ours. I can ask if I can use that! That way I can still be close enough in case the team needs me but you can feel safe." Ruby said in desperation.

"The room across the hall from ours is a broom closet Ruby."

"I know but they hardly use it. If I explain the reason, I'm sure professor Ozpin would let me use it."

"It's a closet Ruby. Its tiny and cramped and windowless."

"But would it make you feel more comfortable and safe?" Ruby asked hoping Weiss would take the offer as enough and not force her to…

"I suppose. As long as you leave your key to this room here so I know you won't be tempted to sneak in when I'm sleeping."

Ruby's heart crashed to the very soles of her feet. "Yes Weiss. You won't have to worry about me bothering you. From this day forward I'll be the most professional leader you have ever seen."

"Very well. I'll keep your secret and not tell anyone as long as you promise to never bother me again and act with nothing but perfect professionalism."

Ruby's voice sounded like she was already dead and buried as she replied hollowly. "Yes Miss Schnee."

Ruby mechanically got dressed and walked to the door. She stopped before exiting though. "Miss Schnee?" She called out.

"Yes Ruby?" Weiss who had been sitting on her bed replied.

Ruby didn't reply but merely held her hand out. After a moment Weiss held her hand out palm up and Ruby dropped her scroll into her hand. "I'll have my sister bring my things over after I get official permission to use the janitor closet." Ruby stated woodenly and then opened the door and left.

Ruby wandered the grounds of the campus. Her tears a constant stream down her face. How was she supposed to ask Ozpin if she could move across the hall to a janitor's closet? After the way Weiss has reacted did she dare tell him that her and Weiss got into an argument cause Ruby liked girls and Weiss didn't want to associate with her anymore? What if he reacted the same way? Thinking she might be a danger to Weiss or other females going to school? She could be kicked out of Beacon! All her dreams of becoming a huntress gone in an instant.

And how was she going to tell her big sister that she can't stay in the room with them anymore? Worse, what if her sister felt the same way?! Would Yang suddenly wonder about all those times Ruby slept with her when they were kids? Would Yang start to look at her differently too? Would she suddenly refuse to hug her? To talk to her? To be her sister? Ruby paused near a lake on the school's property staring at it but not really seeing it. "Did I just throw everything away in my life on a gamble that Weiss would feel the same way I do?" She asked out loud to no one.

Eventually Ruby pulled herself together and dried her tears and went to see Ozpin. She told him that her and Weiss had an argument but not what it was about and temporarily she wanted to move into the closet across the hall from her team's dorm room.

Ozpin looking very confused indeed and pointed out that a team that had a leader staying in another room was hardly an effective team. Ruby thinking he was about to pull her team away from her had a panic attack and begged him to not remove her as leader. She would solve the problems they were having but just let her do it her way. Eventually and with grave feelings of misgivings he finally agreed to let Ruby take the basically unused tiny room as her own.

Ruby walking like a soulless zombie made her way back to the dorms. She automatically started to reach for the door to her team's room before she remembered she no longer had her scroll to open the door and wasn't welcomed in there anymore. Slumping down against the door to the janitor closet she waited for Yang or Blake to show up so she could explain the change in sleeping arrangements and see if they could retrieve her bed for her.

Yang and Blake came by two hours later and found Ruby sitting with her legs drawn up and her face resting on her knees.

"Ruby?" Yang asked.

Ruby woke from an emotionally exhausted sleep and made the mistake of looking up at her sister and Blake. They could see the tear tracks on her face and Ruby's lost look. Ruby looked away for a moment and when she looked back she had one of the most fake smiles either of them had ever seen the young woman wear. "Hey guys." Ruby said with false cheer. "You enjoy yourselves today?"

"Um yeah. We had fun. Why are you sitting out here in the hallway?" Blake asked.

"I'm… Just excited?" Ruby stuttered. "I found out that I'm going to get my own room? Isn't that cool? Not only will this mean your fearless leader has her own place but that you guys won't have me cluttering up yours? Isn't that great?"

"No." Yang finally said.

"No?"

"Yes. No. Why would you have a room to yourself? No other teams are separated from their leaders. Why is ours?" Yang asked somewhat reasonably.

"Its… Um…. An experiment! Yeah the school wants to see if it makes for a more respectful relationship between a leader and her team if she is not always with them."

"And they chose to do this experiment with you?" Blake asked unbelievingly.

"Yeah… Cause… Why would they do that?" Ruby muttered to herself. "Oh. Because my sister is on my team. Yeah that's it. It's to see if it also helps with family members being on the same team if there is a little distance between them!" She replied louder to Yang and Blake.

"This is a joke, right?" Yang asked.

"Nope. No joke. So if you'll just go into our… I mean Team RWBY's room and retrieve my bed for me I'll be shoehorning…. I mean placing it inside so I have somewhere to sleep tonight." Ruby said gesturing to the door behind her.

"Your new room is a closet?" Blake asked her in shock.

"Why haven't you opened our door and got your bed yet yourself?" Yang asked suspicious.

Ruby hung her head and mumbled something.

"What?" Yang asked.

"I said yes this is my new home and Weiss has my scroll." Ruby replied not looking at either of them.

"WHAT?!" Yang yelled starting to get angry.

Team JNPR's door opened and Pyrrha looked out. "What's going on?" She asked.

"Nothing. Nothing." Ruby frantically said. "Just some team RWBY stuff. No problems."

"Oh. Okay." Pyrrha replied confusedly and shut her door.

"I don't know what the hell is going on but we're getting to the bottom of it now!" Yang snarled and quickly unlocked the door to their room and threw it open.

Weiss sat on her bed. Ruby's bed was already taken down and was in pieces ready to be moved with her mattress stacked against Blake and Yang's bed. Stacked very neatly against the bed was also all of Ruby's belongings. Ruby walked to the doorway but didn't trespass over it. Her heart which she thought couldn't hurt any more still caused her agony as she realized that Weiss must have started breaking down her bed as soon as Ruby had left earlier. _"She can't wait to get rid of me."_ Ruby moaned inside her mind.

"What in the fucking hell is going on?" Yang yelled. Ruby was terrified she would draw team JNRP's attention again and frantically waved her hands at Yang.

"See? Miss Schnee knows about the school experiment to move a leader from her team and approves of it. She thoughtfully broke down my bed and gathered all my stuff for me to transfer them to my new room." Ruby watched out of the corner of her eye to see if Weiss, even if she now hated her would go along with the lie.

Yang and Blake looked to Weiss. Weiss nodded her head. "The school wants to try a more military approach to training Huntresses. See if it works better." The heiress lied expertly.

Yang narrowed her eyes at Ruby. "Why is it Miss Schnee all of a sudden. You've called her Weiss since she first got here."

"Well you wouldn't expect military to be all so chummy with their teams would you?" Weiss explained. "I mean it's okay for enlisted personnel to call each other by their first names but you never see a leader calling their soldiers by their first names or them calling their leader by their first name."

Ruby felt this day couldn't get any worse but at least Weiss hadn't 'outed' her so she nodded. "So I guess I'll have to get used to calling…" Ruby swallowed and with a force of effort kept from breaking down. "You guys Miss Belladonna and Miss Long."

"Like Hell you will. I'm your big sister!" Yang growled.

Ruby her emotions about to break completely drew herself to her full height. Which wasn't that intimidating at all. "We came here to be Huntresses. Yes?"

Yang reluctantly nodded and Blake did so a moment later. "So we agreed to follow the school rules and become more professional. Right?"

Yang's nod was even more reluctant.

"Then we'll do this the correct and proper way. So now Miss Belladonna and Miss Long will you please move my things across the hallway to my new room?"

As Yang and Blake moved to get Ruby's things, Ruby glanced over at Weiss. Weiss wasn't smirking or looking triumphant. Actually for someone who was getting her own way she seemed kind of down and depressed about Ruby moving out. She held out Ruby's scroll to her and said softly. "I've removed the access code to our room and took the liberty of deleting the photos you had on there of you and I together." Ruby almost gasped as the feeling of a nonexistent knife turning in her gut but merely swallowed several times before she felt confident she could speak again without sobbing.

"Thank you for considerate actions Miss Schnee. I hope you have a pleasant evening and I will see you sharply at 7 a.m. for breakfast and classes." Ruby said as though she had a mouth full of Grimm dust in it.

Ruby had opened the janitor's closet door and was waiting as Blake and Yang carried her stuff over from the now forbidden bedroom. Yang suppressed a shudder as she saw the dank and musty smelling tiny room. "Ruby I don't think your bed will even fit in here."

Ruby looked over and could see Weiss standing in the dorm room dorm watching them. "Ahem." Ruby cleared her throat.

"Miss Rose." Yang said with a scowl. It was her damn baby sister and she couldn't call her by her first name anymore? Who the hell thought up this experiment? She would be talking to Ozpin soon she decided.

"I'll manage." Ruby told them with a painful attempt at a smile.

"Ruby. This room is even worse than what they force Faunus to live in at Weiss's father's companies." Blake said looking in obvious hate at the tiny windowless room. "There is no windows in here or ventilation. It smells of mildew and old mops. You can't possibly stay here!"

"I will be fine. Thank you for your concern Miss Belladonna." Ruby said and waved them away. "Now excuse me I have a bed to put together and stuff to stow before tomorrow morning. Got to be professional about this."

Blake and Yang stepped back into the hallway to have the janitor's closet door slam. They could hear Ruby moving stuff around inside.

"What is going on?" Yang asked Blake.

Blake could only shake her head in disbelief as well. "I don't know."

Later that night Nora was standing near the wall of her and her team's room. She would cock her head one way and then another.

"What are you doing Nora?" Asked Pyrrha.

"I think we have rats. Really, really sad rats." Nora said after a moment and then shrugging she moved back towards the middle of the room where Ren and Jaune were talking.

Pyrrha looked in confusion at the wall and then moving closer she put her ear to the wall to hear the most heartbreaking sobbing she had ever heard coming from it. It sounded like someone's soul was dying. "Jaune?" She called out getting his attention.

"Yes?"

"What is right next door to our room?" She said gesturing to the wall with the almost silent sobbing.

"Just a closet they hardly ever use. I think it's a broom closet."

Nora sat on her bed looking thoughtful. "Really, really, really sad and lonely rats." She said to herself.


	2. Course of Love Chapter 2

Course of Love

by

Weirdbard

chapter 2

Whirlpools in the river of love can suck one to such depths of despair and loneliness that one suspect they will never escape...

Ruby awoke gasping for air from just the latest nightmare of an all-night nightmare fest. Some of the dreams had Ruby facing a tree in the middle of the campus with her hands tied around it and while Weiss whipped her with a whip while the entire school cheered 'kill the freak', other dreams had Ruby watching as Weiss was ripped apart by Ursas while Ruby was powerless to do anything because Weiss absolutely would not accept help from that 'kind' of girl.

"Either way I've lost her." Ruby sniffled. Finding her scroll she clicked it on and scrolled through the pictures on it to only find out that Weiss had been as good as her word. All photos of Ruby and Weiss together were now gone. Finally, Ruby found one lone picture of Weiss that the young heiress had failed to delete. One of Weiss taken after a combat lesson when Weiss had won the fight against Jaune of Team JNPR. Weiss had a faint pleased smile on her face but was trying to remain 'humble' looking after soundly trashing Jaune. Ruby looked at the picture, her heart feeling like it was going to shrivel and die as she stared in longing at Weiss's image. Finally, with a dry sob she flicked the screen of her scroll to see the home screen and that it was 5:34 in the morning. "Might as well get up. I couldn't force myself back to sleep if I had to and this room feels like a tomb. I can go to the dorm showers and get a shower before seeing my team again." Ruby crawled to the foot of her bed to climb out as there was no room on either side of her bed to stand up. The bed indeed had to be wedged into the tiny space of the closet. "At least I don't have to worry about falling out of my bed or even making it any more. I couldn't force the sheets and blanket between the mattress and walls if I had to." Ruby tried to grin at her own joke but just sighed. Standing in the tiny space between the foot of her bed and the door to her cell Ruby sighed again as she realized her clean clothes were behind the headboard of her bed and she would have to crawl over her bed once again to retrieve them before leaving.

"I hope at least Weiss slept pleasantly without having to worry about me molesting her in her sleep." Ruby once again said out loud to herself. She wanted to feel resentment for her former roommate but all she still could feel was a longing for her. Tears started forming at the corner of her eyes. "Stop that! Gotta be professional from now on. I might not be able to say her or my team's first names in public any more but at least my team is still together… And I can at least see Weiss in class or on missions." Ruby nodded to herself all the while fearing she would have to learn to enjoy talking to herself now as she probably was going to be doing a lot of it. Reaching out she pulled the chain on the single lightbulb that dangled from the middle of the ceiling and exited the closet that was now her life.

Meanwhile Weiss was tossing and turning in her bed. She had her own share of nightmares that night as well. Some of them had Ruby sneaking into her bed while she was sleeping while Yang and Blake took pictures and the pictures somehow getting out and making it into the news media where they proclaimed Gay Heiress in torrid school love affair. Other nightmares were of her father beating her and yelling that she was a Schnee and no child of his would be one of those 'kind of girls' while a beaten and broken Ruby lay in the corner of her room at the family mansion. The worse nightmare of the bunch however was the simplest one. It had a very aged Weiss sitting in her family's home covered in dust and cobwebs, unloved and alone while she sat at the head of a very long empty table. Weiss woke up gasping for air and looked skyward prepared to apologize to Ruby for waking her up only to see not the bottom of Ruby's bed above her but the simple ceiling of the room.

" _Oh that's right. I made Ruby move out."_ Weiss thought with a pang of loneliness and guilt. _"It will be better this way. Ruby won't feel any temptation and may pull herself out of this phase and I don't have to be worried about being crushed by that beautiful dolt's bed someday."_ Weiss's eyes grew large in the dark of the room. _"Did I just think Ruby was beautiful? I'm just confused. Yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster. First finding out that Ruby was a lesbian and wanting me to my overreacting and stomping her heart flat and forcing her into a dingy little closet."_ Weiss vigorously shook her head. Her imagination was betraying her. She didn't stomp on Ruby's heart or force her to go anywhere and she didn't overreact. Ruby suggested the move and Weiss had only agreed it was for the best. It was really for the best. Ruby could stand to be a lot more focused and professional.

" _Don't you mean Miss Rose?"_ Her mind cruelly reminded her. _"I can call Ruby, Ruby in my mind if I want to!"_ Weiss snapped at herself.

Weiss got out of bed and being careful not to wake Yang or Blake she gathered together some clean clothing and went to take a shower in the dorm showers a short distance down the hallway. She was sticky from all the sweating she had done due to her nightmares and if she just happened to stop and listen to the door across the hall from her room, just to make sure Ruby was okay, she was just checking to make sure her leader was fine as a good team member should do.

Weiss frowned in annoyance. She couldn't hear anything from Ruby's new room and couldn't help but notice there was no ventilation grate in the door. The way Yang and Blake had described the room after they had come back from helping Ruby settle in, Weiss couldn't help but imagine a dank dungeon cell. A thought of a broken and beaten Ruby sitting in a bare cell waiting execution entered into Weiss's mind and her stomach churned with nausea. Once again she angrily shook her head to clear her thoughts. This will be a good learning experience for the young girl. She isn't going to be executed or being punished. "I'm sure the room isn't as bad as everyone has painted it out to be." Weiss said to herself as she made her way down the hallway towards the shared dorm shower room.

Ruby stood under a shower head letting the water wash away her tears as she sobbed. She was trying. God she was trying so hard to act mature, to act indifferent to how things were going, to get past her love for Weiss and act all professional but damn it she was two years younger than anyone here! Was it fair for her to have to bear all this heartache and act like nothing was wrong? And she hadn't even endured the first day of it yet! Ruby began to wonder if she shouldn't leave Beacon all together? Just activate her semblance and run forever but where could she run to? She couldn't go home and have to explain to her father or her uncle why she abandoned beacon after it being the only thing she talked of for years, of her dreams of becoming a real huntress and hunting down Grimms and the thought of telling her dad that it was because she was secretly gay? It would kill him. Ruby thought it must since Weiss had taken it so badly. Surely her father would take the news even worse. Not to mention leaving her team like this would leave them one-member down making training and potential missions more arduous and dangerous. No. Ruby decided. For the sake of her team she would endure seeing Weiss every day and hide how much she yearned for her. She could and would act as professional as they come, even if it was slowly killing her soul.

Ruby turned off the water to her shower and turning around she found herself face to face with a shocked Weiss who had heard the water running but had no idea it was Ruby inside. Ruby quickly grabbed her towel and covered her body. "I'm sorry… Miss Schnee. I didn't know anyone would be in here this early. If this is your preferred hour of the day to shower, I will certainly schedule my showers for some other time." Ruby walked past Weiss without glancing at her or awaiting her reply and didn't bother to get dressed but only grabbed her clothing from the locker room as she passed by and raced to her room. As soon as she was once again enclosed in her tiny cell she slumped against the closed door to her room clothed only in her towel and began sobbing once again. Her resolve to wall up her feelings about Weiss crumbled at just the sight of her staring at her in the showers. How was she to make this work when just looking at Weiss made her feel like life was already over with?

Weiss in the shower room continue to stand and stare at where Ruby had been. First it was the very first time she had seen the girl completely naked and she was slightly startled by the sight of strong shoulders, arms, back and abs the girl possessed. In hindsight it was obvious Ruby would have to be lean and fit. I mean you had to be pretty developed in the muscle area to swing that giant damn scythe she used all over the place even with Aura to back it up but what Weiss hadn't been prepared for was her own body's reaction to seeing Ruby naked. Weiss's heart was beating a mile a minute and she could feel the flush on her face and her hands were sweating. Remembering the brief glance, she got of Ruby's firm thighs and chest with drops of water running down them almost had the heiress panting.

"What the Dust is wrong with me?" Weiss said out loud to the empty shower room. "I do not swing that way. I can't be attracted to Ruby's body and her adorable face and those large silver eyes filled with tears." Weiss felt like Yang had hit her in the stomach when she remembered the tear filled eyes as Ruby had looked at her for a long moment before turning her eyes away and replying in the very formal manner she was adopting. Obviously for the overly friendly girl this was tearing her apart trying to act so formal and being separated from her sister and Blake. Perhaps it would be better if Weiss were to drop out of school and let Ruby be with her team. But the thought of leaving Beacon and never seeing Ruby, Blake or even Yang was not something Weiss thought she could stand either. Let alone admitting failure to her father. "Maybe things will work out for the best no matter what?" Weiss tried to convince herself as she turned on her own shower.

At 7 a.m. sharp Ruby was outside her team's door ready to knock. She wished she could blow her whistle to wake them like she had in the past but she couldn't do that in the open hallway so she settled for quietly knocking. She knew Weiss was up and liable to hear her. Whether the woman would answer the door to Ruby was another question. Finally, the door cracked open to reveal a dressed Weiss peering out at her.

"7 a.m. Time for team Ruby to rise and shine and head to the cafeteria." Ruby stated trying to look past Weiss and not at her. "Could you wake Blake and my sister. Er, I mean could you wake Miss Belladonna and Miss Long?" Ruby corrected herself, feeling her heart aching at not being able to call her sister or her friend by their first name any more.

"Of course Miss Rose. One moment." Weiss said to her and then shut the door in her face. Ruby looked up and then down the hallway before allowing herself to rest her head against the now closed door and dry sobbing for a moment before regaining control. Weiss wouldn't even let her look into the room but made her wait outside a closed door? She must really hate her or fear her 'lesbian leanings' to do something like that.

On the other side of the door Weiss was leaning back against it breathing hard. Why did it hurt so much that Ruby refused to look at her and only asked for her sister and Blake? Sure Weiss had agreed it was for the best that Ruby act more professional but that didn't mean the girl had to freeze her out of her life completely did it? Taking a deep breath Weiss put on her normal face and called out to the still sleeping companions in the room. "Okay you two, time to rise and shine. Our leader is waiting for us to go to the cafeteria for breakfast!"

Yang woke instantly, which was a first for her. "Ruby?" She called out hopefully.

"She's outside waiting for us." Weiss corrected the blond.

"She is not even allowed to come into our room anymore?" Yang growled as she leapt down off her bed.

Blake slowly awoke and sat up in her own bed. "What?"

"It would appear that due to this 'experiment' that Ruby isn't even allowed to come into our room to wake us anymore." An angry Yang told her.

"That is just silly." Blake replied. "Why wouldn't a leader be allowed to enter their team's room?"

"Or have to sleep away from them either. Jaune is a guy and he's allowed to sleep in the same room with his team and there are two girls on it." Yang added.

"It just does." Weiss stated. "And are you forgetting? We are supposed to call Miss Rose by her last name now."

Yang popped the knuckles of her fist. "I am not calling my baby sister Miss Rose."

"For the sake of the experiment you have to." Weiss stated. "Ruby, er I mean Miss Rose really wants to prove she can do this. That she is up to the challenge."

Yang's shoulders slumped. "Fine. For her sake I will but I don't have to like it. Let's not keep Miss Rose waiting."

It was a silent almost mournful walk to the cafeteria. Ruby wanted to be herself and talk and joke with her sister, ask Blake about the books she had been reading and just watch Weiss gracefully and regally move through the campus but she couldn't do any of those things now. She had to be 'professional' with her team. She had to at all times lead. No more hanging back and cracking jokes with Yang or discussing books or…" Ruby could feel tears starting to gather in her eyes. With a shake of her head she cleared them and hardened her eyes. She had created this mess by reacting emotionally and not thinking and now she had to deal with it.

Walking through the serving line Ruby would have normally picked up some hotcakes, some cookies, maybe some eggs. Oh and some more cookies but this time she settled for only taking a bowl of oatmeal. Honestly Ruby had never eaten oatmeal before. It wasn't a huge favorite in Patch her home island but as queasy and nervous as her stomach was feeling she thought it might be a safer choice to eat. Sitting down at the table, being careful to sit between her sister and Blake just so Weiss wouldn't worry about her getting any ideas by sitting next to her, Ruby toyed listlessly with the oatmeal. As Team JNPR sat down on the other side of their table, Ruby worked up enough courage to stick a spoon into the gray mess and brought it to her lips.

"Yech. People actually eat this stuff? It looks like the stuff the guy with the stables back home used to feed his horses." Ruby muttered in disgust after her first taste.

"It's really not that bad if you mix in some brown sugar or syrup." Pyrrha supplied helpfully.

"Nonsense. A good leader eats a healthy breakfast and doesn't need sugar to get her to eat it." Weiss proclaimed.

"Eh. Yeah." Ruby agreed halfheartedly and taking another spoonful of oatmeal she put it in her mouth and swallowed without chewing. "Yummy." She said after a moment of forcing the bland stuff down.

"Say did you guys hear the rats in the walls last night?" Nora asked suddenly.

"Rats?" Ruby interest rose. She had enough problems getting kicked out of her room by Weiss without having to face rats showing up in her tiny cell.

"Nora thought she heard some rats last night." Pyrrha stated.

"Really sad rats too." Nora added.

"Sad rats?" Ruby once again repeated.

"There were noises last night coming from one of our walls that sounded like sobbing. Nora decided that it must be rats crying about something." Pyrrha explained.

Ruby's skin turned pale as she realized that Nora must have heard her sobbing and crying last night.

"I doubt it was rats Nora." Juane said.

"Why not?" Nora demanded to know.

"The walls in the dorm are solid worked stone. There are no hollows in the walls where rats could run back and forth like you are thinking there is."

"It um could be water pipes or heating pipes making noises?" Ruby quickly said.

"Nope. We have sad rats." Nora insisted.

Yang eyed Nora and then turned to look at her sister, whom suddenly was far more interested in her oatmeal than she had been a moment ago. "The wall they are talking about wouldn't be the one between their room and your new room would it?"

Ruby looked up quickly her eyes wide in fright. "Nooo. Couldn't be. I mean I would have heard if there were rats, sad ones at that in the walls or the rafters. You know me, I wouldn't have stayed in that room if there were sad rats with me, or happy or bored… You know what I'm trying to say. Rats of any kind and I would be back in our dorm in a flash. I'm still betting Nora just heard water or the furnace kicking on."

Juane looked over in surprise. "New Room?"

"Yeah it seems Ruby has been chosen to try a new experiment at the school and has to sleep in the room across the hall from ours." Yang said not taking her eyes off her baby sister.

"Ahem." Weiss said loudly.

Yang gritted her teeth and shot Weiss a glare. "Miss Rose was chosen for an experiment I mean."

Team JNPR shared a look among themselves and then said almost at the exact same time. "Miss Rose?"

"I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal out of this." Weiss stated. "This is just to see if a proper military like bearing would be beneficial to a Huntress in training is all. They do this all the time in Atlas. Ruby is to slightly distance herself from her team and others. Use last names instead of being overly familiar with first names and try to be a bit more professional. That is all."

"Yeah, what Wei… I mean Miss Schnee said." Ruby mumbled staring down at her oatmeal again.

"Wait! Does this mean she has to call us by our last names as well?" Nora demanded. She did not like that idea at all.

Ruby swallowed and looked out of the corner of her eye past Blake towards where Weiss sat. Would Weiss really do that to her? Isolate her from everyone? Force her to be aloof and only call everyone by their last names? Ruby didn't think she could survive if she took it that far. She had already 'taken' her sister from her. Did Weiss hate her that much now?

"It's only proper military procedure. I'm sure our leader can adapt." Weiss said firmly.

Even though Ruby kept anything from showing on her face, shoulders slumped. She was reeling from Weiss's actions. It appeared Weiss did hate her just that much for falling for her. Couldn't the heiress understand? It wasn't by choice Ruby fell for her or liked girls over guys. It just was. She couldn't control it and she wasn't just going to adapt either. The heart chooses for whom it feels and it doesn't always ask the brain's opinion about it first.

"It doesn't mean you can't come over to our room, or go shopping or talk to us does it?" Pyrrha asked.

"A leader wouldn't fraternize with other teams and I'm sure Miss Rose will not have time to waste on such frivolous activities as shopping or useless conversations. She is going to become a shining example of professionalism from now on." Weiss stated emphatically.

Ruby felt like she was a Grimm in the forest and Weiss was gleefully driving her Myrtenaster rapier through her heart over and over again.

Maybe that was how Weiss really saw her now? As some kind of monster she had to control or tame to protect the young women of Beacon? In any case she had just cut her away from all her friends and her family. For a moment a spark of the old Ruby flared to life and she thought of slamming her hands down on the table and rising to stand on the table and yell to the world. NO. that this was all just a lie. But the thought of Weiss revealing Ruby's secret that she was a lesbian kept her still. What difference did it make if Weiss took her friends away with a lie or told them the truth and they all end up fearing and despising her anyway and being exiled from Beacon? Ruby feeling sick realized that Weiss now had her entire life in the palm of her hand. It would be sheer agony but if Ruby played along and Weiss kept silent, Ruby might be able to get through everything and obtain her life time dream of becoming a huntress, or with one word Weiss could destroy and rob her of everything.

"Speaking of professionalism. Our next class is due to start soon. I think I will go along now and make sure everything is prepared." Ruby said rising from her seat. Her oatmeal barely having two bites taken out of it.

"Ruby?" Yang said reaching out to touch her younger sister's arm… Only to grasp a handful of rose petals as Ruby activated her semblance and sped away.

Nora eyed Weiss suspiciously. "If you ask me this is sounding less like an experiment and more like someone's attempt at mind control." She said.

Weiss gave a light laugh, which in itself was highly suspicious for her and said. "This coming from the girl that heard sad rats last night?"

Ruby stopped her dash at the other side of the cafeteria and looked back sadly at her team and friends. Her trail of rose petals dissipating quickly enough that they couldn't see where she had sped off to. She pulled her cloak up to hide her face and started to walk slowly towards the doors exiting the cafeteria when she heard a loud bang/crunching noise and then crude laughter in front of her. Looking up she spotted Cardin and his team once again harassing the poor Faunus Velvet. Cardin's crew had the poor rabbit girl surrounded while their leader would take out from his pockets a handful of Dimard nuts, small perfectly round nuts from Atlas with an extremely hard shell. It took a lot of force to crack open the nuts but the nut meat inside was known for its rich nutty flavor.

Cardin would put a couple of nuts on the table and then smash his giant mace down on them breaking the nuts shells but also severely denting and marring the table each time. Then him and his guys would laugh at Velvet who would cringe each time as the loud noise assaulted her very sensitive ears.

Ruby paused feeling a rage overtaking her. Velvet was nothing but kind and sweet and those scum treated her poorly only because she was a Faunus. Something that was beyond her control and shouldn't even be a thing that would merit discrimination in the first place! She was different. So what? It didn't make her a freak or not a person just because she had been born that way. In the back of Ruby's mind, she knew she was projecting some of her hurt feelings for the way Weiss was treating her onto the situation in front of her but Ruby didn't care. What those racist boys were doing was still wrong and she wasn't going to stand for it anymore!

Cardin crashed his mace down once again, smashing some Dimards and picking out the meat from the shell. He tried to force some of the nuts between Velvet's lips but the Faunus merely shook her head and shrank back from him. "I guess nuts are not rabbit food enough for the animal." Cardin laughed before he swept his hand back clearing the table of the smashed shells and three or four whole Dimards he had missed cracking. The nuts bounced along the floor and came to a stop near Ruby's boots. "Maybe she would prefer sucking on my carrot instead?" He smirked.

"Hey Cardin." Ruby yelled. "Leave Velvet alone!"

Cardin turned to see who would dare shout orders at him and spied Ruby standing a few yards away. "How's it any of your business?" He yelled back and started aggressively towards her. Ruby glanced down at the Dimards on the floor near her feet and Cardin's swaggering steps and at precisely the right moment she kicked the marble like objects under his feet. Cardin's legs flew out from under him and he landed flat on his back on the floor between the benches hard. Losing his mace in mid fall arc, it flew upwards toward the ceiling to only fall back down and land on his own stomach causing him to grunt in pain at the impact.

Ruby walking past said. "If a guy can't control his nuts, maybe he should keep them in his pockets? And I don't think anyone would be impressed with your tiny carrot." Reaching the rest of Cardin's crew, Ruby glared out from under her hood at them and was a little surprised when they parted for her. Reaching Velvet's side, she took the Faunus by the hand and lead her away from the trouble. "Where's your Team?" Ruby whispered to her.

"We were running a bit late this morning so I thought I would rush down to find us some seats and hold them for us. They should be here soon." Velvet whispered back. "Ruby, Cardin isn't going to forget this. You could be in real trouble." She added.

"So I should have looked the other way while he continued to harass and degrade you?" Ruby nearly hissed.

"A lot of humans do." Velvet said sadly.

"Yeah? Well I'm not like a lot of humans." Ruby stated. Seeing the rest of Team CVFY usually just called Team Coffee coming into the cafeteria she steered Velvet towards them. She knew Velvet was safe now. Cardin wasn't foolhardy enough to harass her with her team around her. Coco Adel the leader of Velvet's team was a second year Huntress in training and already about as hard as nails as you could get. Fox Alistair, another of Velvet's team was a skilled fighter and was a firm supporter of Faunus' rights and the last member of team Coffee was a virtual giant of a man wielding a massive sword. Ruby could never remember how to say his name correctly but she knew Velvet often said she felt completely safe when she was around him. Yeah Coco and her team trusted Velvet and supported her whole heartedly. They would never abandon or mistreat her because she was different. Ruby smiled as she watched Velvet rejoin her team before her smile faded away. She used to think her team was like that as well. Always supporting each other no matter what. Now Ruby just wasn't sure anymore.

Weiss waked down the hallway to the first class of the morning. One she shared with her entire team. Professor Port's class on creatures of Grimm. She kept thinking about how down Ruby looked this morning. Why was this so difficult for the young girl? Weiss had spent most of her life calling everyone by their last name instead of being overly familiar and calling them by their first name. By Dust, Weiss couldn't even remember ever calling anyone by their first name until she got here and met Ruby. Weiss's entire life was a testament to deportment, respect and tradition but when she had helpfully suggested to team Juniper that Ruby should do that with their team as well as her own and you would have thought that she crushed Ruby's dog, then burned down her family's home! Weiss actually thought for a moment Yang and Nora were going to attack her. I mean it was simple respectfulness.

And Nora implying that Weiss was trying to mind control Ruby? She was doing this for the young woman's best interests. Didn't she tell Ruby that she was going to be the best teammate Ruby would ever have? And wasn't she acting in just such a manner now? She was trying to help Ruby get over this 'phase' in her life where she liked girls rather than boys and at the same time better herself by becoming more professional like.

But Weiss bet with herself that class today would be the true test of Ruby's academic professionalism. Ruby always fell asleep in Professor Port's class. Not that this was all that scandalous. Most students had trouble staying awake through his dull and rambling lectures and the professor was so full of himself that most of the time he was too engrossed in his own tales to even notice.

By Dust, even Weiss found it hard to keep her mind from wandering at times as the old man was boring as Hell and tended to tell outlandish stories of fighting Grimm in his youth. Oh there was real information to be gleaned if you paid attention to his stories. His long winded remembrances were always correct on Grimm information and on ways to kill them but by Dust was it painful to wade through his lectures to find the gold in them.

Behind Weiss, Blake and Yang walked more slowly and conversed in whispers with one another. "You seem really down Yang." Blake whispered to her.

"Ruby is my little sister. We've been together our entire lives." Yang whispered back depressed. "Before I knew she was going to be coming here as well I used to have nightmares about leaving her behind. I was never happier than after finding out she was being bumped by two years and be starting Beacon alongside me. And then we ended up on the same team? It was a dream come true for me. I would always be there to watch out for my little sis." Yang sighed. "And now she calls me Miss Long and I have to call her Miss Rose?"

Blake placed a hand on Yang's arm. "It's just names Yang."

Yang's eyes briefly flashed red in anger and frustration. "No. Its more than that. It just stresses that we had different mothers! It points out that we are not really blood sisters but only half-sisters. Its artificially putting a distance between us that never existed before!" Yang added even softer that it took Blake's Faunus ears to hear. "I feel like I'm losing my sis."

Blake for Yang's sake pretended she hadn't heard the last part of Yang's confession. "I can't say I like this either. It was nice having someone like Ruby call me by my first name. It felt like we were more than just school friends; you know? It was like Ruby was accepting me as part of her extended family."

"She does accept you as family Blake. Hell she even accepts Weiss as family though why I'll never know." Yang said sending a glare towards Weiss's back. The only one that seemed to be happy about this bullshit experiment was Weiss.

Weiss heard Yang and frowned. "Ruby thought of her as family?" Weiss felt a burning pain in her heart for a moment before shrugging it off. What did Ruby's sister know? Ruby wanted the heiress. As in a sexual way. Would Yang be moping over this little bit of formality if she knew Ruby was a lesbian and was lusting after a fellow teammate? Who knew how many other young women Ruby secretly fantasied about? Maybe she was lusting after Blake as well or maybe Nora? Weiss almost stumbled as the thought made her feel a flush of jealousy. What was wrong with her today. First the flush of heat she felt seeing Ruby nude and now jealousy that Ruby might be lusting after other girls? Could it be that secretly, deep way down… Weiss felt the same way about Ruby? Weiss's hand paused on the door of the classroom as she had a sudden memory flashback of her father pulling her away from a dance when she had been eight and then slapping her face and yelling at her that no way one of his daughters was that kind of a girl. It had been during a time when Weiss was at one of those fancy society parties so the rich and powerful could show off their perfect children as if they were prized cattle to one another. Weiss had avoided all the boys in the event and hung close to the walls. She just had no interest in talking or being around the self-absorbed guys.

Weiss had noticed a very attractive dark haired girl whom was the daughter of one of Weiss's father's business associates and the young girl kept shooting Weiss looks. Finally, she had come over and her and Weiss had talked a bit. The girl started flirting with Weiss and reaching out and touching her arm or hand. Weiss had innocently responded thinking that no one was paying attention to the young girls in the crowded room only to have her father storm over and drag her off. Weiss had never seen the young girl again and the beating she had received at her father's hands later at home made the lesson clear. Those type of girls were not nice nor 'clean' girls and Weiss was not one of them. _"All I'm doing is for Ruby's sake. I'm just trying to nip this in the bud to keep her from having to learn this lesson too. Ruby will learn to like boys if it is the last thing I do. I will help her over this phase."_ Weiss tried to justify to herself.

Opening the door to the classroom Weiss entered to spy Ruby sitting near the front of the class with a brand new notebook open and a pencil sitting beside it. She must have rushed to the school campus's store and purchased the new supplies and then raced here. Ruby was sitting ramrod straight on the bench and was staring at the lecture floor obviously diligently waiting for the professor to show up. Weiss was impressed. _"See? This is already promoting Ruby to be a better leader."_

Weiss normally allowed Yang to sit next to her sister, then Blake and then her but today she thought it might be better if she sat next to Ruby. Just to make sure the girl was really going to be professional and take notes, not because she suddenly had an overwhelming urge to be near Ruby. As she started to sit down however, Ruby turned and fixed her with a cold stare. "Miss Schnee I think I would prefer if you retained your normal sitting arrangement."

Weiss actually felt slight pain at Ruby's rejection of her but slid down anyway. Yang smirked at Weiss and started to take her normal seat next to her little sis but was stunned as Ruby spoke again. "Miss Long? I would also prefer if you sat away from me today." Ruby had turned to look back at the front of the classroom and didn't take her eyes off the lecture area to look at her sister.

"Ruby?" Yang asked in a hurt voice.

Ruby finally glanced up at her older sister. "Please Yang? I'm trying to be professional today and if you are sitting next to me…"

"You are afraid I'll distract you?" Yang asked still hurt.

Ruby nodded her head.

"Fine Miss Rose. I'll give you your space." Yang stated and slid down next to Weiss.

Blake looked to Yang but then sat down next to Ruby. With her Faunus senses Blake could hear tiny whimpers coming from Ruby and watching her out of the corner of her eye she could Ruby shaking slightly as if she was freezing but the young girl in the red hoodie managed to hold it together. The whimpers painted in Blake's mind the image of a tiny bunny trapped in a trap waiting for the hunter to come along and put the creature out of its misery. "Ruby, even professional huntresses relax a little bit." She whispered to her friend.

"Not the best ones." Weiss's voice called out.

At the sound of Weiss's voice, the whimpers grew slightly louder a moment before shutting off completely. Ruby straightened her shoulders even more than her previous stiff position and stared with a laser intensity at the professor's desk ignoring Blake completely. It was like Ruby after hearing even the tiniest bit of condemnation in Weiss's voice had erected a solid steel wall separating her from her team.

The class had been as dreadful as Blake had feared it would be. Professor Port rambled on and on about the time him and his brother went into town only to end up having to fight a dozen beowolves. The fight might have been interesting but Port kept wandering from the battle to reminisce about what flavor of ice cream him and his brother had eaten that day and what clothes they had been wearing, to the time of day, clouds in the sky and the position of the sun. The minutiae he covered seemed as endless as it was unnecessary to the story he was telling. Blake glanced over expecting to see Ruby either nodding off or doodling in her notebook like she usually did when she lost interest in a class but to her surprise Ruby was taking very detailed notes about the lecture and never once took her eyes off the professor as he strutted back and forth and kept going on with his story.

"Now class!" Port shouted waking up more than half of the students in the lecture hall. "I've told you about this incident from my past for a reason. We are going to have a pop quiz on it. You may use whatever notes you have taken to aid in the quiz."

Blake's eyes widen at this. He had never done this before, usually just doing his boring stories to a captive audience and then right before the bell issuing them homework like making models of Grimm or essays on their weaknesses and strengths but never a pop quiz on one of his rambling stories! But then again, usually his stories lasted till the bell rang and class was over with. This rambling story while extra boring hadn't taken all the time today so maybe that is why he was filling the rest of the class period with a quiz?

Port passed out the test papers and most of the students groaned at what was revealed. Not only were their questions on beowolves but also on what his brother and him wore that day and sure enough what ice cream they had eaten. Even paying attention in class better than most students, Weiss felt like groaning. All the boring tales the professor had told in the past had blended together in her mind and she didn't have a Dust damned clue what ice cream he had mentioned, nor why she should care.

Blake glanced over at Ruby expecting to see the girl hunched over her test paper working away only to see the girl still remaining ramrod straight on the bench with nothing but her pencil moving as she quickly filled out the test. Occasionally her eyes shifting to her notes. After ten minutes Port called time and had the test papers returned to him. He quickly shuffled through the papers glancing at them before stopping and his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. He slowly scanned the test paper in his hand and then looked up to where Ruby was sitting as straight as she had when the class had begun. "I must say Miss Rose, for once in my career I am truly astounded. No other student in all my days of doing this has ever correctly identified not only what my brother and I had been wearing that day but the flavor of ice cream or even how I said the shadows of the Grimm had moved. I must award you an A++ for this quiz." He then turned to the other students. "I hope you all realize what my story and quiz was about this day. It wasn't so much the story I imparted but the details I was hoping you would all catch. A good Hunter or Huntress can live or die by the details they notice or miss. And that was the lesson of today."

The bell rang signifying the end of the class period. Port watched the students file out. Some of them giving angry glances at Ruby for her shining today. "first time a Dust be damn student caught me at my own game." Port mused to the now empty room.

Ruby left the class walking slowly and steadily to her next class. A beaming Weiss by her side. "I can't believe you actually took such perfect notes Ruby… Er, I mean Miss Rose."

Ruby suddenly halted as her way was blocked by Cardin of Team Cardinal. "What's the idea of making us all look like idiots in Port's class? And that crack about my nuts in the cafeteria earlier?" The bully demanded. "Why couldn't you have napped like all of us were doing and thus kept the grades about the same? And someone needs to teach you to keep your trap shut and mind your own business."

"I'm sorry if my trying to learn interfered with your beauty sleep Mr. Winchester. I was under the impression we came here to learn to be Hunters and Huntresses, not sleep. As for earlier? Don't try to force feed someone who obviously wants nothing from you." Yang and Blake coming up behind Ruby gasped. That sounded nothing like the Ruby they knew. Even though Ruby was twice the fighter that Cardin was, Ruby would normally have been quiet and apologetic to avoid a fight with the muscle bound bully. Not outright goad and challenge him like that.

Cardin without warning threw a punch at Ruby's face. Even with her Aura it would probably have broken her nose. Oh, and also signaled the death of Cardin after Yang got through with him but to everyone's surprise Ruby merely used her semblance and jerked her head to the side faster than sight. Only the drifting of a few rose petals to signify she had even moved. Cardin's fist missed Ruby's face by mere inches and as his momentum kept him moving towards her, Ruby flashed into speed mode once again and punched him twice in the gut before he could even attempt to stop or recall his fist. Gasping for air, Cardin might have fallen to the ground but Ruby fisted her hand in his shirt and raised him to a standing position before hoisting him up in the air where she continued to hold him without strain. Compared to her beloved scythe Crescent Rose he was weightless.

"Students are not supposed to fight in the hallways Mr. Winchester." Ruby lectured him as if she was a professor herself. "If you wish to continue this, which I would not advise, we will do so in Ms. Goodwitch's combat class today. I'm sure if we ask her nicely she will allow us to be matched in a combat round."

Ruby then dropped the bully to his feet and walked away fearlessly.

Cardin just gasped for a moment and then shouted after her. "This ain't over bitch! We'll settle it alright in Goodwitch's class but don't be surprised if you have to be carried out afterwards."

A stunned Weiss, Blake and Yang raced to catch up to Ruby. Yang in passing shot a red eyed glare at Cardin letting him know that no matter what happened with him and her sister, she would be seeing him later as well.

"That… That… That…" Weiss kept repeating in amazement.

"Was a thing." Ruby finished for her.

"You were awesome Miss Rose." Weiss couldn't help but almost gush. Just one day of her 'helping' Ruby and the young woman's backbone had grown three sizes larger.

"It was…" She continued.

"Incredibly stupid Ruby." Yang finished.

Ruby paused in her walking and turned to look at her sister. "Why? He challenged me. What did you expect me to do?"

Yang opened her arms and then folded them against her chest as she tried to think what to say to this new Ruby."

"Did you expect me to squeal in fright and then run and hide behind you while you threatened to beat Cardin, er I mean Mr. Winchester to a pulp? What if it was a Grimm trying to intimidate me? A responsible leader does not endanger her teammates by expecting them to fight her battles for her do they?"

"But what are you going to do if he takes you up and challenges you in Ms Goodwitch's class?" Yang replied.

"I will fight him of course. If I beat him he will learn to not cross my path again. And if he beats me? I will train harder and come back and beat him someday." Ruby stated as if it was something that was clear as day.

"If you survive it!" Yang shouted. "Cardin doesn't play with a full deck if you know what I mean. He may take it past Aura depletion and continue wailing on you till you need medical attention!"

"Ms Goodwitch has been a professor here a long time Miss Long. I'm sure she can handle anything Cardin, I mean Mr. Winchester can pull." Ruby finished and turning she walked away once again.

Yang slumped despondently. "She didn't say she knew I would be there to watch her back and that she knew I could take care of it."

"Our leader is growing up." Weiss stated proudly.

"No. She's changing, not growing up and I don't like this new Ruby." Yang stated before following after her sister down the hall.

Although Blake said nothing in reply she was also deeply disturbed by this new aspect of Ruby. She had seen the look in Ruby's eyes when she turned to face her sister and recognized it. It was the kind of blank stare she had seen often in the eyes of Faunus's pushed too far and whom had joined White Fang. A look that said, I'm dead inside and I don't care any longer who I hurt or if I'm hurt instead.

Eager students filed into Goodwitch's classroom. News had spread like wildfire that Ruby had challenged Cardin and the students were taking bets among themselves whether Ruby would carry out her challenge or back down. An equal number of students were also taking bets on how fast Cardin would send Ruby to the hospital if the combat took place.

Glynda Goodwitch eyed her students. She could feel the undercurrents in the room as they swirled around. Auras were pulsing in excitement, beyond the normal excitement that came from a usual combat class. Which could only mean one thing. Some students must have challenged one another and was seeking her class to settle the matter. Instead of being upset by this Goodwitch was actually pleased. When you train warriors to put their lives on the line to defend against Grimms, it wasn't unusual for egos or personalities to clash. If they were going to fight, she preferred they did it in her combat course where she could monitor the event and step in if things went too far.

From long experience Goodwitch knew the hostile parties would announce themselves asking to be paired in the first fight of the class. She wasn't disappointed by highly surprised when Ruby Rose and Cardin Winchester stood up when she asked if there were any volunteers for the first match. While Cardin loved to fight his fellow students at any excuse and was often the first challenger of the day, Ruby Rose usually preferred to wait till she was computer matched for combats and then reluctantly forced to fight rather than ever request one before.

As Glynda gave her normal speech about the fight about to begin and how each student's Aura bar would be shown and the conditions the fight would be concluded, Ruby and Cardin took their places in the arena. Cardin smirking at Ruby and smacking his battle mace in his hand over and over again in an attempt to intimidate her. Ruby however only stared straight forward and didn't even bother to enter her usual defensive crouch.

"All right students. You may begin…"

Cardin opened his mouth, no doubt to do one of trash talking/threatening speeches but as soon as Glynda had finished the 'begin' Ruby was flashing into motion. Her semblance blazing with a blizzard of rose petals as she went from standing still staring at Cardin to suddenly being up in his face. Her scythe popping open into blade form as she ran. Cardin barely had time to snap his mouth shut and bring his mace into blocking move as Ruby flashed by him in a horizontal slash that if he had been an Aura-less Grimm would have divided him into two pieces. Ruby didn't even pause as she passed him but skidded to a stop and flash stepping back to the attack before the young man could even turn. Her scythe aimed at just above his shoulders. Ruby's Aura bar was decreasing as she used it to fuel her semblance for the attacks but not as fast as Cardin's as she scoured a direct hit on his neck with her scythe. If the boy's Aura hadn't blocked the blow he would have been instantly decapitated. Ruby spun with the force of his Aura blocking the hit to once again end up standing directly in front of him. Again without pause she spun her scythe in a whirlwind of motions scouring multiple hits on the boy in a single heartbeat. Ruby's Aura had shrunk a quarter but Cardin's was draining quickly into the red. With a final upsweep of her scythe that would have split him once again if his aura hadn't absorbed the impact, his aura bar flashed red signaling that he was done.

"Winner of the combat is Ruby Rose." Glynda stated calling a halt to the fight. Ruby ceased movement instantly and turned her back to Cardin to walk away.

Cardin infuriated of having his ass handed to him by the younger and shorter girl in record time raised his mace to smash her unguarded back.

"Ruby!" Yang cried to her sister as she boldly prepared to launch herself to attack the bad sport herself but was stunned as Ruby turned instantly and her scythe descended towards the boy's head only to pause a scant inch from his scalp. In Cardin's deplete Aura state the blade would have succeeded this time in cleaving him into two pieces if it had landed. A fact Cardin also realized as his knees suddenly gave out and he sunk to the floor in shock.

Glynda Goodwitch used her riding crop and her semblance to separate the two combatants. "The fight is over!" She ordered as she used her semblance to push the hood covered Rose further away from Cardin. She looked at the kneeling Cardin. "Attacking someone after a combat session has been called is grounds for suspension but as emotions seemed to be riding high on both sides this day I will overlook it but keep in your mind that if Rose's blade hadn't been stopped you would now be quite dead and I suggest you never try such a move in future combat classes."

Ruby said nothing but folded her Crescent Rose back into its compact form and retook her seat in class. Cardin after a moment rose to his feet shakily and also returned to his seat but refused to meet his Team's eyes.

Yang, Blake and Weiss could only stare at Ruby as she sat perfectly straight and looked forward. The hood on her cape still up and keeping her face hidden from view. As silent as she was with no movement and after witnessing what they had on the combat floor more than a few students in the classroom nearly shuddered. It was like the sweet and caring girl they had all known had been replaced by a Red Death of a reaper.

As the last combat of the day ended Glynda dismissed her class but called out for Ruby to stay behind. Ruby made a silent gesture for her Team to go ahead and leave without her. Reluctantly Yang allowed herself to be pulled out by Blake while Weiss brought up the rear looking back at the still and silent Ruby until the door to the classroom closed blocking her from view.

"What the Hell was that about?" Glynda yelled as she caused the doors and windows to her classroom to close with her semblance insuring her and her student's privacy.

"I do not understand Ms. Goodwitch. To what are you referring?" Rose said in a flat and unemotional voice.

"We both know that if I hadn't used my semblance in your battle with Cardin you would have killed him!"

Ruby was grateful that no one in the class had picked up that it was only a twitch of Goodwitch's riding crop that had stopped her scythe from cleaving Winchester into two at the end and not her pulling the blow herself. Her eyes raised to stare into Goodwitch's. "He attacked me while my back was turned. I reacted. That is all."

"Except your Aura would have absorbed his hit without injury and I would have suspended him for a few days. You knew his Aura was depleted when you returned his attack. You know you could have killed him."

"I apologize. I was just trying to be professional and in the heat of the moment lost control." Ruby's voice started to crack and she clamped down on her feelings to keep from falling apart in front of one of her favorite instructors.

"See that it never happens again Miss Rose. We are training huntresses to kill Grimms. Not assassins to kill other people."

Ruby nodded her head not trusting herself to speak and turned to leave. She paused and looked back over her shoulder at Goodwitch.

"You are dismissed." Glynda replied picking up on Ruby's unvoiced question.

Ruby was relieved to see that her team was not waiting outside the door for her but must have gone on to the cafeteria for lunch to wait for her. No doubt Weiss had been the one to marshal them away. She was also deeply relieved to see that Cardin hadn't wait around for her to come out either. She didn't think she could take another confrontation with him at the moment.

Students had three hours for lunch due to the fact that some liked to go into Vale to eat rather than eat in the cafeteria and due to schedules Ruby had another hour after that for her next class. Usually she would go to the cafeteria to eat and then joke or study with Weiss until her next class but this time Ruby had no appetite and with Weiss just watching for her to slip up, joking was off the list and being alone with Weiss to study? That was just too painful for Ruby to even consider at the moment so instead of heading towards the cafeteria Ruby headed for her tiny box of a room.

As soon as the door to the former broom closet shut behind Ruby she began to shake and cry. She hadn't even been that angry at Cardin during the combat. She had only wanted to prove she could finish the battle as quickly as she could. To be the best that Weiss wanted her to be. Not just to keep Weiss silent about her secret but because she still felt nothing but love and desire for Weiss even after everything the girl was putting her through. Her mind wanted to hate Weiss but her heart just wouldn't let her. So instead it decided to hate Cardin. "I am becoming a freak, a monster." Ruby sobbed.

Velvet and Coco were heading down the hall towards Team Ruby's dorm room. They had noticed that Ruby was not with her team in the cafeteria so they thought she might have gone to her room to rest after the great battle that she had had with Cardin in the combat class. They personally hadn't seen it but the whole school was a buzz with the fact that Cardin had been bested in combat and in near record time too.

As Coco raised her hand to knock on the door to Team Ruby's dorm room she was stopped by Velvet, her ears twitching she pointed at the tiny closet door across the hallway from the dorm room.

"What?" Coco asked. But Velvet raised a hand and just silently moved across the hallway and suddenly jerked the door to the closet open. Ruby whom had been leaning back against the door crying was caught by surprise and landed on her back on the floor staring up at Coco and Velvet. Ruby quickly stood to her feet while wiping at her eyes furiously. "Um hi guys! What brings you to our place. Well not really our place as in Team Ruby's but my place as this is my place. My room I mean." Ruby said and then quickly snapped her mouth shut.

"What the Hell?" Coco said staring into the grungy tiny windowless hole that Ruby was claiming was her room.

"Um, the school is doing this experiment where I need to be separated from my team and I have to call them by their last names and…"

"Kid?" Coco interrupted. "Bullshit. Come on and clean yourself up. We're going into Vale to have lunch and talk. Velvet told me what you did for her this morning and I want to thank you for looking out for one of my team members and we are going to talk about why you are in a closet and not with your team."

"I told you. It's an experi…" Ruby stopped as Coco looked over her sunglasses at her. "Bullshit." She once again stated.

Ruby hung her head for a moment. "Give me a few moments to clean up." She said and walked towards the communal shower/bathrooms.

Catching a flight on one of the airships that routinely makes the trip from the campus to Vale, Ruby found herself at what she supposed on any other day would have been a really nice café but on this day might as well have been a hangman's gallows. She sat on a chair on an open air balcony that overlooked the older parts of the city. The view might have been stunning if she wasn't hiding in her cape and hood trying to avoid being interrogated by Coco. Across the table from her was Velvet and Coco both eyeing each other and then the closed off Ruby.

"I want to thank you for rescuing me this morning from Team Cardinal." Velvet said softly.

"No problem Miss Scarlatina." Ruby replied.

Velvet blinked at Ruby for a moment. "I didn't know that anyone even knew my last name." She finally said.

"I know it." Coco said. "I just don't see the sense of using it when you have such a sexy first name." Coco leaned towards Ruby. "The question is why are you using it?"

"The exper…"

"Kid I'm going to kick your ass if you try that line again. We both know that if the school was going to try any 'experiments' they would either do it with second or third year students first and it would be a damn sight more teams than just one. So I'm going to ask this once again. What is really going on?"

Ruby sighed. "If I tell you will you promise that it stays between the three of us? And that you don't judge me or do anything with what I tell you?"

"As long as you ain't killed anyone? Yeah Kid. What you say stays here."

What neither Ruby nor Coco or Velvet knew was that Weiss coming back towards the dorm room saw as Ruby, Coco and Velvet left the building and boarded an airship. Catching one herself Weiss managed to follow them to the café. Seeing Ruby going off with two very attractive and in Coco's case somewhat butch girl Weiss feared that Ruby was backsliding on her promise to be more professional and the unspoken promise that only Weiss had heard, that she would try to stop being a lesbian. Weiss well aware of her choice in white clothing and her stunning white hair made her easily seen had taken a table far away from the three. Far enough she couldn't possibly hear what they were saying but close enough she could keep an eye on Ruby without being seen herself.

"So Kid? What is going on?" Coco asked/demanded.

Ruby continued to hide within her cape. Her face not seen in the shadows of it. "Before I explain." Ruby said. "How do you feel about… Um, Ah…"

"Spit it out will ya kid?"

"Girls that like girls." Ruby finished quietly.

"You mean lesbians?" Coco asked.

Ruby seemed to shrink even farther back into her cape. "Yeah." She finally said.

Coco gave a careless shrug. "They don't bother me any. I'm bisexual myself. Give you more choices." Coco laughed.

"You are?" Ruby asked in surprise. Actually forgetting and sitting forward a bit more so her face could be seen inside the hood. Her eyes darted towards Velvet.

"Good guess." Coco replied with a smirk. "Since my team has guys and a girl on it want to guess who the guy is?"

Ruby blushed bright red and noticed Velvet was too. "No." She barely managed to squeak.

Once again Coco looked over her sunglasses at Ruby. "So, I'm guessing you are one of 'those type' of girls?"

Ruby said nothing but seemed to shrink back into her cape and stared at the table.

"So…" Coco stated. "I'm guessing you have a crush on someone and since you are not staying with your team, it's one of them?"

Ruby pulled even further back into the cloak to hide her face once again and made a barely seen movement as the girl nodded once.

"And you can't bring yourself to tell them so you are hiding…" Coco paused as the cape shuddered.

"She's crying." Velvet said as her ears could pick up Ruby's nearly silent sobs.

"You did tell them?"

Once again the cape dipped slightly as Ruby nodded.

"And since you are not enthusiastically knocking boots right now. They don't feel the same way."

A sob was heard by even Coco.

"Worse than that?" Coco guessed. "They reacted negatively. "

"You could say that." Ruby sobbing gasped out.

"Well you don't strike me as the type to be into incest so that leaves your sister out. And somehow I just don't see you trying to hook up with Blake." Coco leaned back in her chair and threw one arm over the back of it. "But if you did, I can't frankly see Blake rejecting you or at least badly enough to make this big of a wreck out of you." Coco paused and placed a hand on her face pushing her sunglasses back. "The Ice Princess?" She asked incredulously. "You had to set your sights on her for your first attempt at fun?"

"Coco." Velvet called out softly. "No one gets this upset over being rejected for fun."

"Oh kid. Don't tell me it's the hard L for you?"

"Hard L?" Ruby sobbed.

"Love. You fell head over heels for the Ice Princess didn't you?"

"Y-Y-Yes."

"and she rejected you."

"It was worse than that." Velvet guessed. "Let me see if I can fill in the blanks. She called you a freak? Unnatural? Deviant? An animal that she didn't feel she could trust to be around?"

"Oh come on Velvet no one in this day and age would do that. The only Kingdom that stuck in the past is Atlas. Where is Ice Princess's family from?" Coco asked.

Ruby gave a sobbing shaky laugh. "Atlas."

Coco sighed.

Ruby looked at Velvet. "How did you know what she called me?"

Velvet gave a sad smile. "The only thing worse than being a Faunus in a human world is being one that is bisexual."

Ruby even in the midst of her own torment and pain still reached out and touched Velvet's hand sitting on top of the table. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that Velvet." Ruby told her.

Velvet gave a soft shrug. "It was painful at the time but everything leads me to being here, now. With Coco and with Yatsuhashi." Velvet smiled at Coco. "People I love."

Ruby sobbed again.

In the distance Weiss couldn't make out what was going on at the table Ruby was sitting at. She thought she could see the hooded cloak every now and then shake, as if Ruby was laughing at something the other two were saying but Weiss couldn't be sure. She did however easily spot as Ruby extended her arm and took the Rabbit Faunus's hand briefly.

Weiss didn't feel a surge of disgust that her Team leader was engaging in scandalous activities in public. Instead she felt a surge of… Jealously. Ruby should be trying to hold Weiss's hand not someone else's.

What was going on with her? She was supposed to be helping Ruby overcome her lesbian tendencies, not wanting to be part of them!

"So she called you names and threw you out?" Coco asked Ruby after the young girl managed to calm down a bit.

"Not exactly. She was going to leave the team. I… I… Couldn't lose her and I was so afraid she would tell everyone what I was and that they would all hate me so much that I was the one suggesting that if she didn't feel safe sleeping in the same room with me that I would move somewhere else. I promised her I would be more 'professional' a huntress and she wouldn't have to see me except for missions or classes." Ruby sniffled.

"Damn Kid. When you decide to hang yourself you not only provide the rope but the tree as well don't you?"

"Not helping Coco." Velvet softly admonished her.

Coco was quiet for a moment. "So Kid. What are you going to do?"

"What I've been doing." Ruby sighed. "What else can I do? I can't live with Weiss but I can't bear to be apart from her either. I'll just continue trying to be ideal 'straight' leader she wants and bury my feelings deep inside."

Velvet shook her head softly. What Ruby was thinking was a true recipe for heartache and pain and no one knew that better than the rabbit Faunus but she knew nothing she could say would make Ruby feel any better.

"Thank you for lunch." Ruby said getting to her feet. Not that she had actually eaten anything or for that matter even ordered anything. "I need to pick up some things while I'm in town. Maybe I'll see you back at the airship?"

Coco stood and walking over and hugged a surprised Ruby. "Don't do anything crazy Kid." She whispered to her. "Give time a chance to heal your wounds. Who knows you might find someone you love even more strongly than the Ice Princess."

As Coco released Ruby, Velvet was there to take her place. "Thank you for saving me from Cardin this morning but please don't let Weiss force you to change who you really are. You'll only grow to hate not only her but yourself if you do."

Velvet and Coco watched Ruby walk away. "What do you think?" Velvet asked Coco after she was gone.

"I think if Weiss ends up destroying who Ruby is… I'm going to have a chat with Yang and this world may end up with one less heiress in it."

Velvet in worry put her hand on Coco's arm. "I'll give them a chance to work it out themselves." Coco assured her. "I'm just saying if there is a fall. Weiss better run."


	3. Course of Love chapter 3

Course of Love

by

Weirdbard

Chapter 3

Sometimes the waters of love spin off into individual pools that just go round around by themselves. Not really whirlpools, just isolated spots of water, lost from the main stream but may someday rejoin the main flow, or may become stagnant and forever alone.

Ruby made it back from Vale with about twenty minutes left before her next class. Just enough time to put her purchases from Vale to use. Entering the tiny cell of her room she opened the small box she had been carrying and dumped out on to her bed an instruction sheet and six small black panels each about the size of a piece of writing paper.

Picking up the instruction sheet Ruby read:

Welcome to the Schnee Dust Company sound proof panels.

Make sure walls, ceiling and floors are cleared of all extraneous obstacles and then choosing a wall place a single dust enhanced sound proof panel firmly against said wall. Activate the panel with a touch of aura and the panel will automatically expand to fill an entire wall so no cutting or adjusting should be necessary.

For ceiling and floors, light fixtures and furniture do not need to be removed but be aware for superior sound blocking that the panel will flow around such obstacles and will make moving furniture later problematic but that an application of one's aura will cause the panel to shrink back to its original state allowing moving or modifications of environment. Simply after modifying the environment reset panel and reapply aura to activate again. Panels maybe activated and re-activated as many times as needed.

Warning: Make sure windows or doors are open during applications as the Schnee Dust Company sound proof panels will flow into all cracks or crevices to insure superior sound blocking function. After panels have fully been activated may you shut windows and doors insuring they are not covered by the process. Sound proofing panels to only be used in a well ventilated area for such reasons.

Ruby looked around her tiny room but shrugged. She couldn't be choosy. She couldn't risk Team Juniper hearing her sobbing at nights any more. If silence was all they heard from now on maybe Nora would assume the 'sad rats' had moved on and not investigate any more?

Placing a panel on the wall that was between her room and theirs, she consciously exerted her aura towards it. The thin panel that had seemed no thicker than a piece of cardboard turned liquid like and spread across the wall as if it was a living thing. The transformation so quick that Ruby jumped back a little in surprise. The bare stone wall of her room was now covered by a deep, deep light absorbing black with tiny sparkles in it. The tiny sparkles being the dust embedded in the panel to make it work.

Quickly Ruby applied the panels to the ceiling, the other three walls and the floor of her room. The floor part was a bit tricky as she had to lay on her bed and stretch over the edge of it to place the panel on the floor before activating it. The dull black surface spread out across the cement floor and quickly wrapped around her bed posts but did not crawl up them. Ruby looked behind her to where all her meager possessions were piled on the bed behind her. "Lucky I thought to pick my clothes and stuff up off the floor behind my headboard." Ruby mused to herself. "There is no telling whether this stuff would have glued my clothes down or just flowed over it and sealed it off from me."

Ruby glanced at the last remaining panel laying on her bed beside her and the only non-covered surface in her room. The door leading to the outside world. "What good will it do if I sound proof everything but leave the door to the hallway outside uncovered?" Ruby wondered to herself. "People walking by in the hallway might hear me crying at night and that would defeat the whole purpose. I can always apply the sound proofing panel, have a good cry and then remove it later so I can still get some air under and around the door."

Sliding off the bed with the panel in her hand Ruby approached the door and swallowed nervously. Finally working up the courage and bolstered by the assurances on the information sheet that the product could be activated and deactivated over and over, Ruby placed the panel in the center of the door and sent a pulse of her aura into it. The rectangle flowed over the door and around the doorjamb sealing the room completely leaving Ruby in a total black hole of isolation. The single bare light bulb in the room still providing illumination but the dark black walls seemed to swallow the light leaving Ruby alone in a very tiny sphere of light.

Looking at her scroll Ruby realized she had to leave now or be late for her class and wouldn't that irritate the already annoyed Weiss if she were to do that? Trembling slightly Ruby placed a hand on the black mass that had been her door and sent another pulse of her aura into it. Obediently the darkness covering her door in a formless void of black reformed back into a small rectangle with her hand in the center of it. Taking her hand away Ruby watched as the panel slid off the door to land on the inky blackness of the floor.

"Whew. For a moment I was afraid it wouldn't work and I would be sealed up in here forever." Ruby breathed out and picked up the panel and tossed it on her bed. After going to bed that night Ruby knew she could seal the door and be in a cocoon of silence where she could scream and cry with no one being the wiser. According to the instruction sheet a cannon could be fired off in a room covered in their product and no one outside said room would be able to hear anything.

Reaching over her bed Ruby grabbed the chain to the light bulb and clicked it off plunging herself into total darkness before almost leaping the short distance to her door. Ruby opened the door to her room to step outside only to find herself almost nose to nose with Weiss in the hallway. "Gah! Weiss you scared me…" Ruby quickly regained control of herself. "I mean Miss Schnee you startled me."

Weiss tried to peer past Ruby into her room as if trying to see if there had been anyone in there with Ruby but all she could was a darkness that looked as if it was the void of space itself. "What were you doing in there in the dark?" She asked suspiciously.

Ruby blinked. "Um, the light bulb in there is turned off and on by a chain. There is no light switch by the door. To turn off my light I have to click the chain and then cross to the door." Ruby explained.

"Oh. Doesn't it make it difficult?" Weiss asked slightly mollified by Ruby's explanation.

"Not really. There isn't that much distance between the center of the room and the door. As long as I am aimed in the right direction it's not like I can miss the door in the dark."

Ruby closed the door to her room and then looked at Weiss once again. "Was there something you needed Miss Schnee? I was just about to go to my next class."

"I was just looking for you Rub… Miss Rose. Your team was worried when you didn't show up in the cafeteria for lunch."

"I'm sorry if I worried Miss Belladonna and Miss Long. Ms. Adel and Miss Scarlatina asked me to join them in Vale so we could discuss some Team business during lunch." Ruby told her as she made to leave.

"Is that what you are calling it?" Weiss angrily demanded and put a hand on Rose's arm to keep her from leaving.

Ruby pulled a stop. "What?" She asked as she pulled her arm from Weiss's grasp.

"Miss Rose I'm trying to do this for your own good but this does not look good you leaving campus with two known lesbians for a secret rendezvous."

"What?!" Ruby sputtered shocked. "How do you know they are lesbians? I didn't know." Ruby said and quickly slammed her mouth shut. After a moment she replied coldly. "First off, your information isn't entirely accurate Miss Adel and Miss Scarlatina are bi-sexual not strictly lesbians. Secondly, I am trying to be professional as you requested me to be. I can't just turn down a senior Huntress in training when she asks me to join her and a teammate for lunch to discuss some things. Thirdly, absolutely nothing happened during said lunch. We just talked about a few things and then I left alone to do some shopping. Fourthly, I am going to be late if I don't leave for class right this second and that would not be professional of me!" Ruby then activated her semblance as was gone in a flash of rose petals.

Weiss felt like smacking herself in the head. She knew that nothing that scandalous had happened at lunch. She had been there spying, er observing and she knew that Ruby had left on her own. Weiss had tried to follow Ruby but lost her on the crowded streets of Vale and only spotted her boarding an airship back to Beacon as she was getting on another one herself to go back. She hadn't meant to be so confrontational with her leader. She was just… She was just… Weiss couldn't bring herself to admit to herself that she had been and was still jealous.

Weiss glanced down at her feet and notice Ruby's rose petals were just starting to fade. Ruby's semblance always left rose petals behind as evidence of Ruby using her semblance but they rapidly faded into nothingness after a few moments. Weiss just had enough time to notice that the rose petals that had always before being a rich red in color were now red with signs of black creeping along the edges of them before they faded away completely.

Ruby stopped at the door of her next class and even though she was perilously close to being late she still paused as she tried to regain control of her breathing and not break down in sobs. "Weiss obviously thought Ruby was some kind of low life tramp and that she had snuck off today for sex. While it was true Ruby had been attracted to girls before Weiss but she was completely untouched as far as that went. She felt attraction before but never a strong burning desire to touch anyone or allow anyone to touch her before Weiss.

And what was worse was Ruby had told her innocently whom she had gone off with. Now Weiss would think the worse of Coco and Velvet and if she wanted to she could smear their names along with Ruby's. Two more people Ruby would now have to avoid completely if she wanted to spare them the wrath of Weiss. Swallowing thickly Ruby with a force of will pushed her emotions and despair back and pulling her hood up to hide her face once again, she entered the classroom.

Ruby stiffly opened the door to her room and entered the darkness of it. Fumbling around in the dark over her bed for a moment Ruby finally found the chain to the light bulb and pulled it on. Classes were now done with for the day and evening was starting to fall. Normally Ruby would be with her team deciding whether to go to the cafeteria for dinner, slip into Vale to treat themselves to a nice restaurant or just order a pizza to be delivered but that was all in the past now. Ruby doubted she could hold anything down if she were to eat anyway. Her last class she had managed to bury all her emotional turmoil deep down inside and paid attention to the professor. She even aced another test but where was the feeling of victory if she had no one to share it with? With Weiss watching her every move she couldn't talk to anything female without Weiss reading more into it than there was. She couldn't even visit with her sister because Yang would know immediately that something was bothering Ruby and wouldn't leave it till she got a straight answer from her and Ruby couldn't risk that when she was already so emotionally vulnerable and about to crack.

Weiss probably wouldn't care if Ruby talked to a guy but all of them she knew were teammates with other girls and Weiss would probably suspect her of just talking to them to stalk their female teammates. One of the few all-male teams she knew of was Team Cardinal and not only would they want nothing to do with Ruby, except maybe break a few of her bones but even if that wasn't the case, Ruby wasn't lonely enough yet to want to hang around scum just because Weiss wouldn't question her motives about it.

Ruby picked up the sound proof panel off her bed and quickly slapped it on the door and activated it. Alone now in a dark void Ruby could finally let it all out. She didn't have to worry about anyone hearing her or judging her but Ruby found she couldn't cry. She just felt dead inside.

"Spent all this money on sound proofing and I can't even make use of it?" Ruby said out loud. Ruby thought about crawling into bed but she could see by the weak light that it still had her possessions piled on top of it from the sound proofing job earlier and she felt too drained and exhausted to throw it all behind her headboard so she just slumped down against the now sound proof sealed door. Ruby tried to intellectually think about what she could possibly do about her situation but suddenly all she could see in her mind was Weiss with her arms angrily folded as she had accused Ruby of doing something with Coco and Velvet at lunch. Ruby wanted to hate Weiss. She really did but all she could think to herself was how beautiful the icy princess was, even while she was insinuating Ruby of acting like a wanton whore. Without conscious thought Ruby pulled her scroll from her pocket and brought up the one picture of Weiss that the heiress had left her and stared at it. As the tears started pouring down Ruby's face and her breathing began to choke into sobs, Ruby said to the empty room. "Well at least I will be getting my money out of this sound proofing."

Pyrrha paused as she noticed that Nora was near the wall that separated their room from Ruby's new one. "Hear anything?" She asked as she came up beside the girl.

"Nope."

"The sad rats must have moved on." Pyrrha said.

Nora shot her an annoyed look. "I'm not stupid you know. We both know now that was Ruby last night."

Pyrrha started to apologize but Nora waved it off. "What do you think is going on?" Nora asked her.

"I don't know." Pyrrha answered helplessly. Ruby was one of the nicest persons Pyrrha had ever met, well with the exception of Jaune and for the bubbly girl to be ostracized and now living in a tiny closet just didn't make sense and all because of some kind of experiment like she claimed.

"Weiss has something to do with this." Nora stated.

"You can't be sure of that."

"Yeah I can. Didn't you notice how every time Ruby started to say something this morning she would look over at Weiss as if asking permission or something?"

Pyrrha frowned. "And Weiss would finish Ruby's sentences if it looked like the girl couldn't figure out what to say." She added.

Nora nodded.

"What can we do?" Pyrrha asked.

"I can break Weiss's legs?" Nora asked hopefully.

"Nora! No. We don't even know what is going on."

Nora frowned but placed her ear against the wall. "Well whatever is going on, at least tonight Ruby seems okay. I can't hear a peep from the room next door." Satisfied that at least at the moment Ruby was probably fine, Nora left with her team to go across the campus to the cafeteria for dinner.

Ruby finally managed to sob herself into an exhausted sleep but the sleep wasn't restful. Her dream had started off pleasant enough. Weiss had confessed that she had been wrong and that she loved Ruby as much as Ruby loved her. Weiss kissed Ruby sweetly and Ruby thinking all her dreams were coming true opened her arms to Weiss. Weiss's face then turned evil looking and she lunged at Ruby and wrapped her hands around her throat and started choking Ruby. As Ruby struggled to get Weiss off of her, Weiss face changed into the familiar bony face plate of a Grimm and the pressure continued to increase until Ruby couldn't breathe at all.

Ruby awoke from the nightmare gasping and choking only to have the feeling of suffocation follow her from her dream state. She tried to leap to her feet but weakly sunk back to the floor as her legs felt like they were jelly. No matter how she struggled it was like she couldn't draw any air into her lungs or force her body to move. Ruby's actions were sluggish and slow and it felt like her mind was filled with thick cotton as she struggled to make sense of what was wrong with her. "The sound proofing." Ruby finally realized. "I meant to take it off the door before going to sleep but I was so exhausted from crying I must have nodded off. The panel must have blocked all air into the room." Ruby tried to turn her body to face the door but was too weak to manage even that. She struggled to raise her hand to place it on the material behind her but she could feel her own aura sputtering as she was so weak from nearly suffocating in her sleep. She wasn't sure she could deactivate the material to free the door open even if she could reach it.

" _Great. Many years from now some other student upset and kicked out by her teammates might pry open this door to find a dried up skeleton in a red hood lying here and will wonder what happened."_ Ruby thought to herself as her vision began to grow dim. Thinking of the pain Yang would go through when finding out her sister died just across the hall from her gave Ruby one last brief burst of energy and struggling Ruby slapped her hand on the sound proofing material above and behind her as she desperately pushed her weak aura into it.

The panel shuddered and slowly shrunk until it was once again a small rectangle and floated down to lay beside Ruby. Fumbling behind her Ruby managed to get her hand on the doorknob and twist it.

Nora was in the hallway of her dorm building. The rest of Nora's team had turned in for the night hours ago but Nora had a sense of dread following her all day long so she snuck out of her room. The dark cloud around Nora was not something that usually happened with the energetic girl and she couldn't shake the feeling that Ruby needed her. Nora listened in at Team Ruby's dorm room. She could hear Yang and Blake yelling and Weiss shouting in defense about 'the experiment' but she couldn't hear Ruby trying to make peace within her team so that must mean Ruby was somewhere else. Nora had tried knocking on the door to the small room Ruby was supposed to be in but listening at that door had revealed not a sound. She was just about to give up and go back to bed when she heard a click. Looking quickly over at 'Ruby's room' she saw the door slowly swing open and then Ruby slump backwards into the hallway.

"RUBY!" Nora screamed and leaped the distance across the hallway to her side. Ruby's face was paler than Nora had ever seen it before and there was tinge of blue around Ruby's lips. Nora placed her head on Ruby's chest but could barely hear a heartbeat. Tilting Ruby's head back Nora gently pulled her mouth open and began mouth to mouth resuscitation with her. As Nora feverishly worked to get Ruby breathing again she could hear the door to Team RWBY's behind her open and a moment later Weiss screaming bloody murder at her.

"What the hell are you doing with Ruby?! Stop that!"

A moment later she could hear Yang and Blake race up as well.

As Nora rouse up to take another breath of air for Ruby she quickly said. "Ruby not breathing!" And bent back down to force air into the oxygen deprived girl.

"What?!" Yang yelled and dropped to her knees beside Ruby and Nora. She reached for Ruby's body but was halted by Blake. "Nora is doing what she can." She tried to reassure Yang.

"What happened?" Weiss asked in shock.

On one of Nora's rising to get more air she just pointed at Ruby's open door. Weiss ran over and stuck her head into the dark room. At first she didn't notice anything odd. Other than the tiny room was even worse than she had imagined. It was even more like a dungeon than Weiss had imagined and she felt like she had been kicked in the gut as she thought of poor Ruby being alone in such a dark and dank place. Weiss looking down noticed a black sheet lying on the even blacker floor about the size of a piece of paper and bent over to pick it up. As her head dipped below her waist however, Weiss became dizzy and with the black sheet in her hand she backed quickly out of the room.

"Carbon Monoxide poisoning." She told Yang and Blake.

"What?" Yang shouted up at her.

Blake shook her head sadly. "I knew we shouldn't let her stay in that room. That it was dangerous."

Weiss turned the black sheet over and over in her hands. She easily recognized the slight sparkles in the material as fused Dust and she was sure she had seen this material before but where? The heiress had studied almost every single product made by her father's vast company and as if looking at a catalog she mentally flipped through it until finally it clicked. "Sound proofing panels." She said out loud.

"What?" Blake asked.

Weiss looked back into the room being careful to not get too close to it as it was still filled with dangerous carbon monoxide. She could see the utter black walls with just a hint of sparkles reflecting the single shining light bulb in the room. "It's one of the products that can be made with infused dust. They are panels you apply to a wall to block out sound. They work marvelously well since they are infused with Dust to enhance them but they cover all openings unless you are really careful. Our dolt must have applied them to every surface in the room and accidentally suffocated herself."

"Don't. Call. My. Sister. A. Dolt." Yang gritted out between clenched teeth as her eyes turned red and her hair started to shine as if it was catching fire. The only thing keeping Weiss alive at the moment was nothing could pry Yang from her sister's side as Ruby fought to breathe.

"Why would Ruby soundproof…" Blake started but stopped as she realized. "She's been crying in there and didn't want to disturb anyone so that is why she did it."

Ruby started weakly coughing and once Nora was certain she could breathe on her own she stopped doing mouth to mouth. Almost immediately Yang took Ruby's small form from Nora and enveloped Ruby in a mighty hug.

"We want her to get air Yang. Not keep her from it!" Nora shouted and pulled on Yang's arms to loosen up a bit so a recently revived Ruby didn't slip right back into unconsciousness.

Yang immediately loosened her hold and cradled Ruby as if she was the finest crystal ware in existence and she was afraid that her little sister might shatter at any moment. "Ruby are you okay?" Yang asked her desperately.

"Yeah Yang. I'm okay… But just tell me we got that Nevermore that pecked me on the head?" Ruby managed to woozily ask.

Yang sobbed/laughed. "Yeah we got it." She assured Ruby as she let her younger sister rest in her lap.

Ruby finally managed to get her eyes to semi-focus and stared up at her sister. "Oh Dust I've missed you sis. I thought I was going to never see you again or you would hate me and leave me alone." Ruby began sobbing. Finally, she looked past Yang to see Weiss standing beyond her. Weiss looked worried and upset but to Ruby's eyes it looked like she was disgusted with their leader. Ruby sucked in a deep breath in fear. "I meant Miss Long!" she squeaked.

"Ruby don't!" Yang said as she started to tighten her hold on her sister.

Ruby began gasping as if she still couldn't get enough air. "I can't… I can't… Do this… Any more." She started shaking and crying.

Nora reached for Ruby. "She's having a panic attack. We have to get her into the showers and calm her down or she's going to hyperventilate and pass out on us again."

"No. I'll go back to my room and…" Ruby tried.

"You are never going back into that room again." Blake nearly hissed.

"You don't understand!" Ruby cried. She kept looking at Weiss and all she could see was condemnation and disgust. Ruby was only half right. Those looks were on Weiss's face all right but they were not for Ruby but how Weiss was feeling about herself at the moment. Her attempt to help Ruby get over her 'phase' had nearly killed the best/only real friend Weiss had ever had.

Nora reacted and plucked Ruby out of Yang's arms and headed towards the showers. Yang was so shocked that the orange haired girl had managed to snatch her sister out of her arms that Nora was half way to the shower before Yang could react.

As Nora got Ruby into the showers she deftly stripped out of her skirt and top so she could enter the showers with Ruby and help the girl. "No I can't be in here with you." Ruby tried to weakly stand and almost fell. Not only was she battling the effect of almost dying from carbon monoxide poisoning but also the fact she hadn't eaten more than two bites of oatmeal and had overused her semblance this day plus all the emotional stress she was under.

"Why can't you?!" Nora demanded just barely restraining herself from shaking Ruby.

"Weiss won't like it. She'll think I'm trying to seduce you or something." Ruby cried.

"I knew it! I knew this was all because of Weiss! That she was controlling you somehow!" Nora shouted as she pulled the still resisting and struggling Ruby with her to the showers. Even though Ruby was still fully dressed and Nora was only in her panties and bra, Nora pulled Ruby under the showers and started them on warm water.

Nora brushed the water out of Ruby's face and stared into her eyes. "What does she have on you?" She asked the struggling girl well aware that she only had moments before Yang, Blake or Weiss herself might break in.

"I love her." Ruby broke down sobbing.

Nora was shocked. "That's it? How does that give her so much power to control you?"

"She… She… Hates me." Ruby continued to break down as she shook like a leaf. "She hates that I could be interested in girls. She hates that I am in love with her. She'll tell everybody I'm some kind of freak and get me kicked out of Beacon… I have to be perfect. I have to be professional… Can't ever show any more interest in her or any other girls." Ruby sobbed as she was hardly aware of what she was saying or where she was at as her aura struggled to clear the toxins of carbon monoxide out of her body while dealing with a critically low blood sugar from not eating.

Yang didn't bother opening the doors to the shower room, she just barreled through them. At her heels was Blake and bringing up the rear was Weiss.

"What is wrong with my sister?! Why is she freaking out?" Yang yelled so loudly that everyone on Campus must have heard her.

"You can't tell her!" Ruby her eyes grew huge in absolute terror said turning to face Nora. "You can't tell her! Please don't tell her!"

Nora for one of the first times in her life felt a headache coming on. She was a brawler. She rather let her hammer do the talking rather trying to reason things out. But even she knew that if she told what Weiss had said to Ruby, certain things were likely. One: would be that Weiss would be a dead woman. Two: Would be that Yang would probably go to jail for said murder. Three: Ruby might end up in a strait jacket in a mental asylum the way the poor kid's day was going. Nora was really wishing Ren was here right now. He would know what to do. Hell, even Jaune's advice would be welcomed.

"I think…" Nora said carefully. "That all of you need to get out of here until I can get Ruby calmed down."

"I am not going to leave you here undressed with Ruby." Weiss said folding her arms across her chest.

"Do I have to get my hammer?" Nora asked, not that reluctantly.

"Please don't fight. Not about me. I'm not worth it." Ruby cried. "Just let me crawl back to my room. Everything will be fine in the morning."

"We are not letting you go back to that deathtrap!" Blake said. "You are returning to our room. Your rightful place. You are our leader and you belong with us."

Ruby head ached and she was having trouble keeping up with what was going on. Her stomach was tied in knots but at the same time was growling in hunger. She wanted to sleep but at the same time was terrified to. She wanted to be cuddled in her sister's arm but at the same time was scared by what her sister might think of it and overall, she still wanted to hold Weiss tenderly in her arms and kiss her.

Yang, Weiss and even Blake were yelling and arguing back and forth and Nora finally had enough. "SHUT UP!" She screamed. "You!" Nora said pointing to Blake. "I can feel Ruby's stomach growling and feel her shaking. I doubt she has had anything at all to eat today so you go down to the cafeteria even if you have to break in and gather up all the foods that Ruby likes and bring them back. We are going to get some food in her if we have to poke it down her throat ourselves!" Nora then pointed at Yang. "You go get Ruby's night clothes and figure out where Ruby is sleeping tonight. Cause as soon as we get some food into her and are sure she is no longer in danger this girl is getting some rest!" Nora finally pointed a finger at Weiss. "You are going to help me get Ruby bathed and calmed down."

"Why should Weiss be the one stay and help you with my sister?" Yang demanded.

"It's not too late for hammer time." Nora said ominously. "Do you really want to do this when your sister is in this bad a shape?"

Yang shuffled her feet and cracked the knuckles on her had a time or two before storming off to find Ruby's pajamas. "And be careful in that room!" Nora called after her. "The door has been open long enough for the bad air to escape but don't close the door or stay in there longer than you need to."

"Yeah. Yeah." Yang yelled back. "Just watch my sister."

Blake took off after Yang and the mostly broken shower room doors swung shut.

"Help me get Ruby's clothing off so we can bathe her properly and then we can dry her before Yang gets back with her pajamas." Nora commanded Weiss.

"I'm not letting you strip Ruby naked." Weiss started but was stopped as Nora keeping one hand on Ruby's shoulder to keep her standing, took the other hand and wrapped it around Weiss's throat and dragged the girl to within an inch of her face. "I SAID. Help me get Ruby's clothes off and get her washed. I don't know what you did to this poor kid but it almost indirectly got her killed. Do you want me to tell Yang?"

"No. Please don't tell my sister." Ruby pleaded. "It's not Weiss's fault. It's mine. I'm the unnatural freak." Ruby wobbled on her feet, exhaustion pulling her down like a Grimm Ursa. "Weiss was only trying to help. Not her fault I that I fell in love with her."

Nora looked over at Ruby and sadly shook her head. The poor kid had it so bad that if Yang were to attack Weiss, Nora wouldn't be a bit surprised if Ruby threw herself in front of Weiss to take the punishment instead. Nora then looked at Weiss. "Go away. I'll take care of Ruby myself. Someone like you doesn't deserve to be in the same world as Ruby Rose."

Nora tried to hold Ruby up at the same time as work the laces of her corset loose to untie them. She didn't have a knife with her or she would have just cut the clothing off Ruby and worry about replacing the stuff later. Nora saw a pale arm move past her towards Ruby. "Hold her up and I'll work on the laces." Weiss said softly.

Nora shot her look but after a moment nodded and moved around behind Ruby to hold her up.

Ruby started crying again. "No, you don't have to do this Weiss. I know you hate me. That I disgust you."

"I don't hate you Ruby." Weiss started crying too. "You are my best friend! In fact, I think I maybe falling in L…"

"Don't!" Ruby sobbed/ordered.

Weiss went silent but continued to help undress her. Finally, between Nora and Weiss they got her clothing off and her down to just her black lacey panties and bra. As Nora supported Ruby, Weiss washed her while Ruby cried the entire time. For shame of being brought so low she couldn't even bathe herself. For making Weiss have to do something that 'obviously' she must hate and lastly she cried in self-loathing that she enjoyed Weiss's hands on her so much.

As Weiss was wrapping a towel around Ruby to dry her, she could feel Ruby shuddering in her embrace. "I'm so sorry Ruby I didn't mean to put you through any of this." Weiss whispered into her ear.

"My fault." Ruby muttered.

"NO. It's not." Weiss nearly growled. "That day you confessed you thought you loved me you caught me off guard. My father always had plans to marry me off to some business owner's son. When I was young and showed interest once in a girl he beat me so severely I thought my own father was going to kill me. He used to lecture to me over and over that girls like that were unclean and no Schnee would ever be one of them." Weiss started sobbing and crying. "I… When you… I was scared someone would do the same to you so I rejected you. I pushed you away and tried to 'cure' you of your phase."

"It's not a phase Weiss. I love you. I didn't ask for it to happen. I tried to ignore it, to bury it deep but I couldn't." Ruby cried back.

Nora behind Ruby shook her head sadly. How did it come to this? Two people who actually felt pretty much the same about each other reaching a point where one almost died? Why couldn't one of them just playfully poke the other one on the nose and say 'boop' and then admit how they felt like she had done with Ren?

"So tired." Ruby muttered. "Can't I just go to sleep and wake up tomorrow and this all have been a nightmare?"

"Not until we are sure you are going to be fine." Nora told her. "You want me to have to take you to the school's infirmary?"

"No." Ruby shouted. "They would ask questions. I don't want anyone to know."

"All right then. You are going to get dressed in those cute pajamas you always wear. Eat some food and then talk to your team. Then you can go to sleep but in your Team's room." Nora shot Weiss a hard look. "Or my Team's room but you are not going back to that closet ever again."

"I can't talk to my team. They'll think I'm sick and hate me." Ruby sniffled.

"Not arguing." Nora told her. "You talk or I hammer."

"Why would we hate you?" Nora, Weiss and Ruby all looked up in shock to see Yang standing in the doorway with her sister's pajamas in her hand. Behind her they could see Blake was back with some take out containers from the cafeteria in her hand.

Ruby started shaking again. "First dry. Pajamas. Then food and then talk." Nora instructed them all.

Ruby found herself sitting on Weiss's bed. She would move off of it and sit on the floor but she was so tired she couldn't move and this was where Nora had sat her when they entered the room. Weiss sat next to her but not touching her. Yang and Blake were sitting on Blake's bed and staring across at them. Ruby couldn't look her sister in the eye but just stared at the floor. Standing guard at the closed door of their room was Nora. Ruby had eaten every scrap of food that Blake had brought and wished there was more. Not because she was still hungry or that the food was sitting well in her stomach but so she could put off the questions longer.

"You've ate. Now talk." Nora stated firmly with her arms folded across her chest.

"This is really Team RWBY business. Why are you still here?" Weiss said shooting Nora a glare.

Nora glared right back. "Because I half way believe that Ruby is stalling and as soon as her aura builds up enough she'll zoom off in a trail of rose petals and I don't feel like tracking her all across this campus or all of Vale." Nora said.

Ruby gave a slight guilty start showing that plan had crossed her mind but she was too exhausted to even attempt it.

"Ruby?" Yang asked hurt after noticing the twitch she had done when Nora had said that. "You were going to run? From me?"

"I couldn't take it if you are sickened or disgusted by me." Ruby mumbled.

"Talk." Nora stated again.

"Before I say what I have to." Ruby began finally looking up at her sister. "Promise me Yang that after you hear what I have to say you won't attack, harm or treat Weiss any different than you normally would."

Yang's eyes immediately went from lilac to deep red. "What has she done to you that you feel the need to make me promise that?"

"Just promise me." Ruby begged.

Yang continue to glare at Weiss and said nothing.

"Promise her already!" Nora yelled at Yang.

"Why?"

"Cause it obvious Ruby won't talk until you do and nothing is going to improve till she does."

Yang angrily folded her arms across her ample chest and finally said. "Fine. I promise I won't attack or beat her to a pulp."

"And not treat her any differently than normal?" Ruby pressed.

"I can't do that sis. How can I promise something like that when I don't have a clue why? I can promise to try to not react but I can't promise not to treat her differently until I know why."

Ruby started to continue pleading but Nora once again spoke. "Take it Ruby. It's the best you are going do."

Ruby looked down at the floor and mumbled. "Okay." But then went silent again.

"Oh by Dust." Weiss finally said. "I'll start with my side and Ruby can fill her in her part. I feel I first should tell you why I reacted the way I did so if you cannot forgive me, you can at least understand where it was coming from. When I was younger I never found guys to be all that interesting but I was attracted to a few girls. My father found out and he beat me something severely to change me from being a les..." Weiss couldn't bring herself to say the word. "From a kind of girl who would be attracted to another girl. Constant lectures on how my future was to be married to a respectful boy. My sister Winter had a brief fling once with a girl and was disowned by the family and shuffled off to military school because of it."

"What's this have to do with Ruby?" Yang asked suspiciously. Nora could see the look of surprise on Blake's face and realized that she had already connected the dots.

"Last Sunday I told Weiss that I liked liked her. She thought as a friend and I corrected her and said more than that. She then asked if I meant like family. To show her what I meant I hugged and kissed her." Ruby said slurring her words a bit from her exhaustion. "She pulled away from me and told me that girls like me were freaks, unclean and animals."

Yang started to get up to cross over and wring Weiss's neck but Blake held her down by putting her hands on her shoulders. "You promised." She reminded her. "Hear out the whole story."

Ruby was silent for a few moments and then when it was apparent her sister wasn't going to kill Weiss, at least at the moment, she started again. "Weiss told me that she didn't think she could feel safe in a room where I was at so I suggested I move out and only talk or see her during classes or missions and that I would be the most professional Huntress in training she had ever seen."

"She put you in that closet over there?!" Yang yelled.

"No. It was my idea. I wanted Weiss to feel safe but I couldn't bear to be too far away either. And now she hates me." Ruby said as tears started pouring down her face.

"I don't hate you Ruby! You are my best friend."

As if those were the magic words that Ruby had been waiting to hear, she slumped over backwards and was asleep before her head even hit Weiss's pillows. Even with Ruby sitting right next to her, before Weiss could move a muscle, Yang was at the side of the bed gently checking Ruby. A soft snore could be heard coming from Ruby. "She's just asleep. Poor kid must have been going through Hell and was just waiting to hear…" Yang shot a burning glare at Weiss so strongly that Weiss frowned and getting up off her bed she stood beside it.

"Where will she sleep?" Blake asked.

"Right here. I'm not moving her and risk waking her up."

"Well where am I going to sleep then?" Weiss asked. In truth she would be just as happy to curl up beside Ruby and hold her while she slept but she kind of doubt Yang was going to allow that to happen.

"There's Ruby's bed across the hall." Yang suggested. "I'll even help seal you in nice and tight by bricking the wall closed after you are inside."

"Yang." Blake warned but then added. "It's a tempting thought and would be kind of poetic justice but you promised Ruby."

"She's not sleeping with my baby sister after nearly destroying her!" Yang nearly yelled but softened her voice when she saw Ruby whimper in her sleep.

Weiss could feel tears in her own eyes as she looked at Ruby but a Schnee doesn't break down in front of others so she tried to keep a strong front. "I told you. My father…"

"We get it." Nora stated reminding everyone she was still in the room with them. "Your father fucked you up and screwed with your mind but that is no call for how badly you treated Ruby. If your daddy's training made you leery of accepting Ruby when she told you how she felt, you could have simply said you were flattered but not interested. Ruby would have been hurt but your friendship could have survived it. But you just had to go that extra mile and call her a freak and sick."

"It's the Schnee way." Blake said. 'Not just brush someone off but smash their face in the dirt and grind them into it."

"Look I'm sorry! Alright? I overreacted and made things bad. I know that. But when she suddenly hugged me and kissed me the only thing I could think of was her being beaten and called names like my father had done to me. I just wanted to spare her that." Weiss looked to Blake. "You should understand."

Blake's gold eyes narrowed at her. "Why?"

Nora snorted this time. "Cause you are a Faunus of course."

Yang and Blake stared at her in surprise. "Oh come on. Everyone knows it. Well except maybe for Jaune. But everyone else? We've noticed the bow on your head twitching and how can anyone miss your cat like reflexes?" Nora looked at Weiss. "And I can kind of get what she means. You were born that way. You have no control over it and you are persecuted and mistreated because of it." Nora could feel Yang's burning glare. "Look I'm not saying that I approve of what Weiss did to Ruby either intentionally or unintentionally, just that she might have had the best, if totally screwed up, intentions at heart."

"Well thank you."

"Oh don't get me wrong on this either. You ever cause our little Ruby this much pain again and I'll break both your legs." Nora smiled at Weiss evilly. "Gleefully and slowly."

Weiss swallowed nervously as she realized she was mostly in hostile territory here. Nora was guarding the door still. Yang was a few feet away from her with her eyes burning red and Blake never did really like the heiress that much cause of her family name. Her only 'protection' was Ruby and she was sound asleep at the moment. Not that Weiss felt Ruby owed her anything at this point anyway.

"Look. All our emotions are running high at the moment. Let's get some sleep and decide what should be done tomorrow when we are all thinking more clearly." Blake stated.

Ruby in her sleep began whimpering and thrashing about, obviously trapped in a nightmare. "Weiss." She called out in her sleep.

Yang without a thought crawled into the bed beside her sister and pulled her into her arms.

Ruby called out for Weiss a few more times before calming down and sighing softly. "Yang." Ruby stopped fighting whatever was happening in her dreams and relaxed.

"When we were kids this used to be the only way to stop her nightmares." Yang explained as she gently brushed Ruby's bangs from her face.

"Since it looks like Yang isn't going anywhere tonight why don't you take her bed and leave those two to sleep in yours." Nora suggested.

"I don't want her in my bed." Yang nearly growled. As if feeling her sister's anger, Ruby began to whimper again. Yang quickly resumed spooning Ruby and she once again settled down.

"Well do you want her to sleep with Blake?" Nora asked raising an eyebrow.

"That is so not happening." Blake stated.

"It's my bed." Weiss said. "Wouldn't it make sense for me to be the one holding Ruby so she can get some sleep and let Yang go back to her bed?"

Nora, Blake and Yang looked at Weiss. "Oh you blew that chance when you called my sister a freak." Yang told her with venom in her voice. "Go ahead and sleep in my bed." Yang smiled at her unpleasantly. "Maybe you'll forget that it's a top bed tomorrow morning and roll out of it and break your neck?"

Weiss was hurt her team had turned so cold to her, irony anyone? But she understood. She had really messed up this time. Ruby had already been dealing with issues of not being a strong enough leader and then Weiss just had to add to them by making her doubt herself even more. Weiss felt sick to her stomach when she realized in her efforts to 'help' and 'improve' Ruby, Weiss had only forced loving and sweet Ruby to be more like Weiss and at the moment Weiss hated who she was.

Nora seeing that there was not going to be any bloodshed, at least that night and that Ruby wasn't going to run away, quietly let herself out of the room and went back to her own dorm room. Weiss reluctantly climbed up into Yang's bed and Blake shut off the light.


End file.
